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
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Recent Examples of cruelty
The two were arrested for second-degree child cruelty and are currently being held in the Douglas County Jail, according to jail records.
—
Megan Forrester, ABC News, 6 June 2025
The dog was among the injured, which resulted in an animal cruelty charge being filed against Soliman, Dougherty said.
—Jesse Bedayn, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2025
Depriving dogs of human companionship by forcing them to live outside blunts their natural desires and is its own form of animal cruelty.
—Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
There’s a desperation in his cheerfulness, but also, as revealed in a climactic scene, a refusal to give in to life’s cruelties.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for cruelty
Megan Forrester, ABC News, 6 June 2025
The dog was among the injured, which resulted in an animal cruelty charge being filed against Soliman, Dougherty said.
—Jesse Bedayn, Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2025
Depriving dogs of human companionship by forcing them to live outside blunts their natural desires and is its own form of animal cruelty.
—Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
There’s a desperation in his cheerfulness, but also, as revealed in a climactic scene, a refusal to give in to life’s cruelties.
—Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 6 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for cruelty
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelty
Noun
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But the picture’s cartoonish brutality is cathartic.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
6 June 2025
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Failing to silence his work through restrictions and brutality, the Iranian regime appears to have been resigned to simply ignoring Panahi.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
30 May 2025
Noun
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Throughout, the novel chips away at its foundational questions: Does there exist a punishment equal to the atrocity of killing one’s child?—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
9 June 2025
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The story of the atrocity is still being unearthed 140 years later.—
Stephen Miller,
Bluesky Social,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cruelty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cruelty. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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