CRUELTY Synonyms: 63 Similar and Opposite Words

cruelty

noun

ˈkrü(-ə)l-tē

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

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cruelty Our communities have suffered because of their cruelty and disregard for humanity and justice. —

Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026 Just like at the end of Season 1 of The Chestnut Man, the show wisely reminds us that even in the face of unthinkable cruelty and shocking realities, people are still capable of good. —

Barry Levitt, Time, 7 May 2026 Middle school is, famously, a time of petty cruelty and small-scale social Darwinism. —

Anna Wiener, New Yorker, 4 May 2026 There’s arguably no one better placed to collaborate with VFX artists on a motion-capture performance than Serkis, who’s delivered innocence, cunning, cruelty, longing, and kindness in roles that run from Golum to Caesar to King Kong himself. —

Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 4 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for cruelty

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelty

Noun

This includes re-enshrining, codifying and strengthening our inalienable rights in the United States and abolishing ICE to ensure immigration and the struggle of migrants is treated as a civilian one, requiring support instead of brutality and criminalization.

— Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
Although their relationship begins as a love story, the book brings home the profits of Jacob’s earlier brutality—fate catches up to him, and everything that is love and passion sort of spoils into wrath and obsession.

— The New Yorker, New Yorker, 6 May 2026