Adjacent Words

Cruelty definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CRUELTY, n. [L.]
1. Inhumanity; a savage or barbarous disposition or temper, which is gratified in giving unnecessary pain or distress to others; barbarity; applied to persons; as the cruelty of savages; the cruelty and envy of the people.
2. Barbarous deed; any act of a human being which inflicts unnecessary pain; any act intended to torment, vex or afflict, or which actually torments or afflicts, without necessity; wrong; injustice; oppression.
With force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. Ezek 34.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a cruel act; a deliberate infliction of pain and suffering [syn: cruelty, inhuman treatment]
2: feelings of extreme heartlessness [syn: cruelty, mercilessness, pitilessness, ruthlessness]
3: the quality of being cruel and causing tension or annoyance [syn: cruelty, cruelness, harshness]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -ties) Etymology: Middle English cruelte, from Anglo-French cruelté, from Latin crudelitat-, crudelitas, from crudelis Date: 13th century 1. the quality or state of being cruel 2. a. a cruel action b. inhuman treatment 3. marital conduct held (as in a divorce action) to endanger life or health or to cause mental suffering or fear

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a cruel act or attitude; indifference to another's suffering. 2 a succession of cruel acts; a continued cruel attitude (suffered much cruelty). 3 Law physical or mental harm inflicted (whether or not intentional), esp. as a ground for divorce. Etymology: OF crualté ult. f. L crudelitas

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cruelty Cru"el*ty (-t[y^]), n.; pl. Cruelties (-t[i^]z). [OF. cruelt['e], F. cruaut['e], fr. L. crudelitas, fr. crudelis. See Cruel.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cruelties) Cruelty is behaviour that deliberately causes pain or distress to people or animals. Britain had laws against cruelty to animals but none to protect children... He had been unable to escape the cruelties of war. N-VAR: usu with supp, oft N to n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Inhumanity, barbarity, ruthlessness, brutality, brutishness, ferocity, savageness, truculence, blood-thirstiness.

Moby Thesaurus

animality, atrociousness, atrocity, barbarity, barbarousness, beastliness, bestiality, bloodiness, bloodlust, bloodthirst, bloodthirstiness, bloody-mindedness, brutality, brutalness, brutishness, cannibalism, cruelness, ferociousness, ferocity, fiendishness, fierceness, flintiness, hardness, harshness, heartlessness, inclemency, inexorableness, inhumaneness, inhumanity, mercilessness, pitilessness, relentlessness, remorselessness, ruthlessness, sadism, sadistic cruelty, sanguineousness, savagery, short shrift, tender mercies, truculence, uncompassionateness, unfeelingness, unforgivingness, unmercifulness, unremorsefulness, unsympatheticness, unyieldingness, vandalism, viciousness, violence, wanton cruelty