Meaning of CRUELTY
| Pronunciation: | | 'krooultee
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 WordNet Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | |
- [n] a cruel act; a deliberate infliction of pain and suffering
- [n] the quality of being cruel and causing tension or annoyance
- [n] feelings of extreme heartlessness
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| | Synonyms: | | cruelness, harshness, inhuman treatment, mercilessness, pitilessness, ruthlessness |
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| | See Also: | | abuse, atrocity, bloodthirstiness, brutality, coldheartedness, ferociousness, hardheartedness, heartlessness, ill-treatment, ill-usage, impalement, inhumanity, malevolence, malevolency, malice, maltreatment, murderousness, savageness, savagery, viciousness | |
| Webster's 1913 Dictionary |
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| | Definition: | | \Cru"el*ty\ (-t[y^]), n.; pl. {Cruelties} (-t[i^]z).
[OF. cruelt['e], F. cruaut['e], fr. L. crudelitas, fr.
crudelis. See {Cruel}.]
1. The attribute or quality of being cruel; a disposition to
give unnecessary pain or suffering to others; inhumanity;
barbarity.
Pierced through the heart with your stern cruelty.
--Shak.
2. A cruel and barbarous deed; inhuman treatment; the act of
willfully causing unnecessary pain.
Cruelties worthy of the dungeons of the Inquisition.
Macaulay.
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| Thesaurus Terms |
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| | Related Terms: | | 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 |
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