as in brutality
disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others
centuries after he ravaged Europe, Attila the Hun remains notorious for his cruelty
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cruelty
Being tied to the mast of a regime defined by cruelty and graft is a problem of another magnitude entirely.
—
Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
This creates an unchecked culture of humiliation, and makes the social media world for Gen Z a place where accountability is absent and cruelty is rewarded.
—Eli Thompson, Rolling Stone, 25 Oct. 2025
Inventiveness, cruelty, the playful distortion and extension of passing time had just gone too far.
—Joy Williams, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Two Northglenn women are charged with 109 counts of animal cruelty after police rescued more than 70 dogs and cats from a home in the 1900 block of 116th Drive in July.
—Katie Langford, Denver Post, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cruelty
Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
This creates an unchecked culture of humiliation, and makes the social media world for Gen Z a place where accountability is absent and cruelty is rewarded.
—Eli Thompson, Rolling Stone, 25 Oct. 2025
Inventiveness, cruelty, the playful distortion and extension of passing time had just gone too far.
—Joy Williams, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Two Northglenn women are charged with 109 counts of animal cruelty after police rescued more than 70 dogs and cats from a home in the 1900 block of 116th Drive in July.
—Katie Langford, Denver Post, 21 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cruelty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelty
Noun
-
With much of the world horrified by the USSR’s brutality, Eisenhower was furious that the British-French-Israeli offensive was both diverting international attention and handing Moscow a PR victory by enabling it to speak about Western aggression in the Middle East.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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The 1986 film also included accounts by former conscripts who had been forced to participate in the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, making clear the hopelessness and brutality of the war, starkly contrasting with the Kremlin’s version of a war of progress and purpose.—
Will Tizard,
Variety,
2 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Satellite images analyzed by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health and verified by CNN show clear evidence of the atrocities in El Fasher.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
30 Oct. 2025
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Whether the atrocities of the RSF and SAF are comparable is an open question.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cruelty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cruelty. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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