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. [+ to]
He had been unable to escape the cruelties of war. [+ of]
Synonyms: brutality, spite, severity, savagery More Synonyms of cruelty
cruelty in British English
(ˈkruːəltɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-ties
1.
deliberate infliction of pain or suffering
2.
the quality or characteristic of being cruel
3.
a cruel action
4. law
conduct that causes danger to life or limb or a threat to bodily or mental health, on proof of which a decree of divorce may be granted
cruelty in American English
(ˈkruəlti)
noun
1.
the quality or condition of being cruel; inhumanity; hardheartedness
2. Word forms: pluralˈcruelties
a cruel action, remark, etc.
3. Law
willful infliction of physical pain or suffering upon a person or animal, or of mental distressupon a person
Word origin
ME cruelte < OFr < L crudelitas < cruel
Examples of 'cruelty' in a sentence
cruelty
Yet the sentence for the gravest case of animal cruelty is six months and a fine.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
The attack was not being connected to any other animal cruelty incident.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
MPs have demanded a clampdown on evil online dog breeders after an avalanche of animal cruelty complaints.
The Sun (2016)
Investigators said they were seeking to determine whether the incident constitutes animal cruelty.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He denies cruelty and causing suffering at Hull crown court.
The Sun (2016)
They deny two cruelty charges.
The Sun (2016)
TWO men have been arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty after a dog was found buried alive with a nail hammered between its eyes.
The Sun (2016)
The cruelty of the bear farming is indescribable.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
What else is such casual cruelty but evil?
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The court said that the taunting of a spouse in such a manner amounted to mental cruelty.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There is much casual cruelty in this book.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
His condemnation is reserved for cruelty to animals.
The Times Literary Supplement (2014)
We still have no cures for war, cruelty or greed.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
I was seeing the cruelty of life that touches us all.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
He defends murder, since it is hypocritical to condemn it if you accept the far worse cruelty of war.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
I could not bear the cruelty.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The North London pair were convicted with their lodger of appalling cruelty.
The Sun (2008)
It is not just sadness in such a situation, it is appalling, gratuitous cruelty.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The works may tell us about death, suffering, cruelty or pain but few have anything to say about these subjects.
Christianity Today (2000)
In other languages
cruelty
British English: cruelty /ˈkruːəltɪ/ NOUN
Cruelty is behaviour that deliberately causes pain or distress to people or animals.
There are laws against cruelty to animals.
American English: cruelty
Arabic: قَسْوَة
Brazilian Portuguese: crueldade
Chinese: 残忍
Croatian: okrutnost
Czech: krutost
Danish: ondskab
Dutch: wreedheid
European Spanish: crueldad
Finnish: julmuus
French: cruauté
German: Grausamkeit
Greek: σκληρότητα
Italian: crudeltà
Japanese: 残酷
Korean: 잔학함
Norwegian: grusomhet
Polish: okrucieństwo
European Portuguese: crueldade
Romanian: cruzime
Russian: жестокость
Latin American Spanish: crueldad
Swedish: grymhet
Thai: ความโหดร้าย
Turkish: zulüm
Ukrainian: жорстокість
Vietnamese: sự tàn nhẫn
All related terms of 'cruelty'
child cruelty
cruelty directed against children
cruelty-free
(of a cosmetic or other product) developed without being tested on animals
mental cruelty
behaviour that causes distress to another person but that does not involve physical assault
persistent cruelty
conduct causing fear of danger to the life or health of a spouse (used in matrimonial proceedings before magistrates )
theatre of cruelty
a type of theatre advocated by Antonin Artaud in Le Théâtre et son double that seeks to communicate to its audience a sense of pain, suffering , and evil , using gesture , movement, sound, and symbolism rather than language
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
→ the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
the full form of RSPCA
Chinese translation of 'cruelty'
cruelty
(ˈkruəltɪ)
n(u)
[of person]残(殘)忍 (cánrěn)
[of situation, action]残(殘)酷性 (cánkùxìng)
cruelty to animals对(對)动(動)物的虐待 (duì dòngwù de nüèdài)
(noun)
laws against cruelty to animals
Synonyms
brutality
The Roman arena played host to appalling brutality in the name of entertainment.
spite
severity
savagery
the sheer savagery of war
ruthlessness
sadism
He was the victim of another's sadism.
depravity
harshness
They treated him with extreme harshness.
inhumanity
the inhumanity of war
barbarity
the barbarity of war
callousness
I find your statement breathtaking in its callousness and cynicism.
viciousness
the intensity and viciousness of this attack
bestiality
an enemy whose bestiality they knew only too well
heartlessness
brutishness
spitefulness
bloodthirstiness
murderousness
mercilessness
fiendishness
hardheartedness
Additional synonyms
in the sense of barbarity
Definition
the state of being barbaric or barbarous
the barbarity of war
Synonyms
viciousness,
horror,
cruelty,
brutality,
ferocity,
savagery,
ruthlessness,
inhumanity
in the sense of bestiality
Definition
brutal behaviour, character, or action
an enemy whose bestiality they knew only too well
Synonyms
brutality,
atrocity,
cruelty,
ferocity,
savagery,
ruthlessness,
barbarism,
depravity,
inhumanity,
barbarity,
viciousness,
carnality,
brutishness,
beastliness,
bloodthirstiness,
savageness
in the sense of callousness
I find your statement breathtaking in its callousness and cynicism.