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 Biden Department of Justice's aggressiveness and cruelty weren't limited to the courtroom. —Barbara A. Perry, Newsweek, 27 Jan. 2025

For anyone who chafes at modern life, the post-collapse world can be blessedly simple in its cruelty. —Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 22 Jan. 2025

Andor updates the Empire from a vague and cartoonishly evil dictatorship to a mundane evil, one that is so oppressive in everyday life, in casual cruelty that rebellion becomes not a choice, but a necessity. —Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 15 Jan. 2025

Saline County sheriff’s deputies, responding to an animal cruelty report entered the Fullen’s field after observing about 50 cattle, many with calves, with minimal grass to graze on, according to an affidavit. —Jonathan Shorman, Kansas City Star, 16 Jan. 2025