Synonyms of cruelty

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• brutality
• atrocity
• barbarity
• inhumanity
• savagery
• sadism
• savageness
• heartlessness
• cruelness
• murderousness
• viciousness
• fiendishness
• barbarousness
• wantonness
• inhumanness
• truculence
• ruthlessness
• mercilessness
• meanness
• atrociousness
• ferocity
• oppressiveness
• pitilessness
• fierceness
• grimness
• ferociousness
• bloodthirstiness
• spitefulness
• malevolence
• maliciousness
• hatefulness
• hard-heartedness
• bloodlust
• malignity
• unfeelingness
• harshness
• sanguinity
• fellness
• nastiness
• sanguineness
• despitefulness
• cattiness
• heavy-handedness
• hardhandedness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• compassion
• sympathy
• humanity
• kindness
• humaneness
• tenderness
• benignity
• warmth
• tenderheartedness
• kindheartedness
• pity
• warmness
• good-heartedness
• mercy
• leniency
• clemency
• warmheartedness
• charitableness
• mercifulness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of cruelty

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department arrested the man later that day on suspicion of felony animal cruelty, according to the city. —Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2025

This photo provided by the Waterbury Police Department shows Kimberly Sullivan being taken into custody on March 12, 2025 after being charged with kidnapping and cruelty for allegedly holding her 32-year-old stepson captive for more than 20 years. —CBS News, 13 Mar. 2025

She was arrested Wednesday on charges of assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the first degree. —Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 13 Mar. 2025

The whole movie is about the ways that cruelty and injustice become codified. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 7 Mar. 2025