cruel

Formscruels

1. 1
   adjective

   Deliberately causing pain or suffering, or taking pleasure in it; showing no mercy or pity.

   The dictator's cruel regime tortured anyone who spoke against it.

   She made a cruel remark about his weight in front of the whole class.

   Similarheartless, merciless, sadistic

   Oppositemerciful, kind

   Note

   The word came to English through Old French from Latin crūdēlis, "hard, severe", which is kin to crūdus, "raw", and so to crude. Here that hardness has become a matter of the heart: the merciless person, the one who does harm on purpose. Sadistic is a sharper near-synonym and merciful is its opposite. The person who suffers is introduced with to, as in cruel to Josh.

2. 2
   adjective

   Harsh or severe; causing hardship, difficulty, or suffering.

   The marathon runners faced a cruel headwind for the final few miles.

   Fate dealt him a cruel blow when the deal collapsed at the last minute.

   Similarbrutal, harsh, severe

   Oppositemild, gentle, merciful, kind

   Note

   Here nothing means any harm. The word is used of winters, of the cold that wore down Ranulph Fiennes and his companions in Cold (2013), and of the cliffs in C. S. Lewis's Prince Caspian (1951) that "remained cruel" to travelers looking for a way up. This use stays close to the Latin "hard, severe". Brutal is its nearest synonym, and unlike the merciless meaning, it needs no intent behind it.

3. 3
   adjectiveslang

   Excellent, impressive, or admirable; used as informal slang praise.

   The band's new single is absolutely cruel.

   Did you see his cruel new ride? Everyone wanted a look.

   Similarawesome, wicked, sick, cool, brilliant

   Oppositelame, rubbish

   Note

   Slang turns the word inside out, making praise from a word for harshness. Because the merciless meaning is so much more familiar, this use depends on tone and company. Among people who share the slang, a "cruel" track is high praise. Anywhere else, it will probably be heard as an insult, so keep it to casual talk where the meaning is clear.

4. 4
   adverbnonstandard

   To a very great degree; extremely or terribly.

   The wind blew cruel hard across the open field.

   He'd been cruel sick all winter and barely left his bed.

   Similarmighty, awful, terribly, real, powerful

   Note

   This nonstandard intensifier belongs to the voice of characters in fiction. Arthur Conan Doyle gives it to a servant who drops his h's in The Poison Belt (1913): "'e does try one cruel at times." In Kerry Greenwood's Murder and Mendelssohn (2016), a speaker's old dad "had it something cruel." After a verb, especially in something cruel, is its most natural position. It has no comparative forms. In writing, keep it to dialogue.

5. 5
   verbAustraliaNew Zealandtransitive

   To ruin or spoil a person's chances of succeeding.

   A single scandal can cruel a politician's chances overnight.

   The late penalty crueled their hopes of a comeback.

   Similarruin, spoil, scupper, dash, wreck

   Note

   Its natural object is a chance or an attempt. In The Sydney Morning Herald in 2014, a shoulder injury "cruelled his chances." A year later, The Age reported a shortage of berths "cruelling Labor's attempts." Vance Palmer's Legend for Sanderson shows the verb in use by 1937. The verb belongs to Australian and New Zealand English, where it is spelled with a double l: cruelled, cruelling.

6. 6
   verbAustraliatransitive or intransitive

   To deliberately provoke or torment a child, in the belief that doing so will make them more assertive.

   Their uncle would cruel the youngest boy, insisting it would teach him to stand up for himself.

   Some teachers once crueled shy students, believing taunts would make them bolder.

   Similartorment, taunt, tease, goad

   Note

   An Australian verb best known through its gerund, "cruelling," usually set in inverted commas as the name of a practice. Stewart Motha (2007) describes infants physically punished and then urged to strike back at the punisher, and Peter Sutton discussed it on the ABC in 2009. It takes an object or stands alone. Unlike the everyday adjective, it names a deliberate method of upbringing, not a trait of character.

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