Antonyms for cruel
ˈkru əlcru·el

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.3 / 4 votes

1. crueladjective

   Antonyms:
   merciful

   Synonyms:
   sadistic, vicious, brutal

2. crueladjective

   Not nice; mean; heartless.

   The supervisor was very cruel to Josh, as he would always give Josh the hardest, most degrading work he could find.

   Antonyms:
   merciful

   Synonyms:
   vicious, sadistic, brutal

3. crueladjective

   Cool; awesome; neat.

   Synonyms:
   sadistic, brutal, vicious

   Antonyms:
   merciful

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.8 / 4 votes

1. cruel

   Whatever is not civilized is barbarian; barbaric indicates rude magnificence, uncultured richness; as, barbaric splendor, a barbaric melody. Barbarous refers to the worst side of barbarian life, and to revolting acts, especially of cruelty, such as a civilized man would not be expected to do; as, a barbarous deed. We may, however, say barbarous nations, barbarous tribes, without implying anything more than want of civilization and culture. Savage is more distinctly bloodthirsty than barbarous. In this sense we speak of a savage beast and of barbarous usage.

   Antonyms:
   civilized, courtly, cultured, delicate, elegant, graceful, humane, nice, polite, refined, tender, urbane

   Synonyms:
   atrocious, barbarian, barbaric, barbarous, brutal, inhuman, merciless, rude, savage, uncivilized, uncouth, untamed

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 3 votes

1. cruel

   Antonyms:
   humane, forbearing, generous, merciful, forgiving, benevolent, beneficent

   Synonyms:
   savage, barbarous, pittiless, inexorable, unrelenting, ruthless, truculent, hard-hearted, harsh, unmerciful, brutal, inhuman, maleficent, malignant

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:4.7 / 7 votes

1. barbarous, brutal, cruel, fell, roughshod, savage, viciousadjective

   (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering

   "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings"; "cruel tortures"; "Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious kicks"

   Antonyms:
   humane

   Synonyms:
   wild, uncivilized, fierce, savage, deplorable, reprehensible, fell, beastly, unrelenting, venomous, criminal, brute(a), condemnable, roughshod, barbaric, evil, feral, poisonous, barbarous, vicious, furious, ferocious, barbarian, heavy-handed, brutish, bestial, brutal, ferine, uncivilised

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. crueladjective

   Synonyms:
   pitiless, merciless, inhuman, unmerciful, fell, relentless, ruthless, truculent, brutal, unfeeling, severe, inexorable, incompassionate, implacable

Editors ContributionRate these antonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. vicious

   she is a cruel girl.

   Submitted by rqollaku4 on December 2, 2019  

2. ridiculed

   Submitted by anonymous on December 16, 2020  

How to use cruel in a sentence?

1. Ziba Murat:

   She is a gentle woman, has always been non-political and compassionate. She became a doctor as a way to help other people, something she saw as an obligation, not a choice. She didnt travel to any Muslim-majority countries, all she did was talk (to her daughters) in the U.S., it has been two years, and we dont even know if she is alive. That people like her can be targeted shows how cruel this government can be.

2. Richard Donoghue:

   He betrayed a veterinarian's pledge to prevent animal suffering when he used his surgical skills in a cruel scheme to smuggle heroin in the abdomens of puppies.

3. Benioff Children Hospital:

   The loss of a child is something no parent should experience, but not being able to be there in your child's last moments is unfathomably cruel. uCSF and the Benioff Children's Hospitals support the family's desire to come together in Abdullah's final days. In the meantime, we are doing everything we can to keep the child comfortable and help the family through this difficult experience.

4. Thomas Paine:

   Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man.

5. Judy Rabinovitz:

   The forced return policy was cruel, depraved, and illegal, and we are glad that it has finally been rescinded.

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