| / English Dictionary |
CRUELTY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A cruel act; a deliberate infliction of pain and suffering
Synonyms:
cruelty; inhuman treatment
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("cruelty" is a kind of...):
abuse; ill-treatment; ill-usage; maltreatment (cruel or inhumane treatment)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cruelty"):
impalement (the act of piercing with a sharpened stake as a form of punishment or torture)
atrocity; inhumanity (an act of atrocious cruelty)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The quality of being cruel and causing tension or annoyance
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("cruelty" is a kind of...):
malevolence; malevolency; malice (the quality of threatening evil)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cruelty"):
brutality; ferociousness; savagery; viciousness (the trait of extreme cruelty)
murderousness (cruelty evidence by a capability to commit murder)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Feelings of extreme heartlessness
Synonyms:
cruelty; mercilessness; pitilessness; ruthlessness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("cruelty" is a kind of...):
coldheartedness; hardheartedness; heartlessness (an absence of concern for the welfare of others)
Context examples:
But the sparrow sat on the outside of the window, and cried “Carter! thy cruelty shall cost thee thy life!”
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
There was great rejoicing among the yellow Winkies, for they had been made to work hard during many years for the Wicked Witch, who had always treated them with great cruelty.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Catherine, at any rate, heard enough to feel that in suspecting General Tilney of either murdering or shutting up his wife, she had scarcely sinned against his character, or magnified his cruelty.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
“Cruel!” said Fanny, “quite cruel. At such a moment to give way to gaiety, to speak with lightness, and to you! Absolute cruelty.”
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Do not think yourself excused by any weakness, any natural defect of understanding on her side, in the wanton cruelty so evident on yours.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Then it was that the cruelty of the sea, its relentlessness and awfulness, rushed upon me.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
The terror of his face lay in his eyes, however, steel grey, and glistening coldly with a malignant, inexorable cruelty in their depths.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I was really in pain for him; for your hard-hearted sister, Miss Anne, seems bent on cruelty.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
This, madam, is a faithful narrative of every event in which we have been concerned together; and if you do not absolutely reject it as false, you will, I hope, acquit me henceforth of cruelty towards Mr. Wickham.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his council from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal a shudder when he laid his hand upon my arm.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
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