# cruel

Pronunciation: say "KROO-uhl" /ˈkɹuːəl/

## Adjective

1. Deliberately causing pain or suffering, or taking pleasure in it; showing no mercy or pity.
   - Simple: Wanting to hurt others and enjoying their pain, with no 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._
2. Harsh or severe; causing hardship, difficulty, or suffering.
   - Simple: Very harsh, hard, or painful to deal with.
   - _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._
3. Excellent, impressive, or admirable; used as informal slang praise. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Very cool, great, or impressive, in slang use.
   - _The band's new single is absolutely cruel._
   - _Did you see his cruel new ride? Everyone wanted a look._

## Adverb

4. To a very great degree; extremely or terribly. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Extremely, or to a very great degree.
   - _The wind blew cruel hard across the open field._
   - _He'd been cruel sick all winter and barely left his bed._

## Verb

5. To ruin or spoil a person's chances of succeeding. *(Australia, New Zealand)*
   - Simple: To ruin or spoil someone's chance of doing well.
   - _A single scandal can cruel a politician's chances overnight._
   - _The late penalty crueled their hopes of a comeback._
6. To deliberately provoke or torment a child, in the belief that doing so will make them more assertive. *(Australia)*
   - Simple: To bully or provoke a child on purpose, hoping it will make them tougher.
   - _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._

## Origin

This word came into Middle English from Old French cruel, from Latin crūdēlis ("hard, severe, cruel"), which is related to crūdus ("raw, crude").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cruel (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).