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
• viciousness
• murderousness
• fiendishness
• barbarousness
• wantonness
• inhumanness
• truculence
• ruthlessness
• mercilessness
• atrociousness
• meanness
• ferocity
• pitilessness
• oppressiveness
• fierceness
• grimness
• ferociousness
• bloodthirstiness
• malevolence
• spitefulness
• maliciousness
• hard-heartedness
• bloodlust
• hatefulness
• 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

Miriam De La Rosa, 42, is facing three counts of animal cruelty with intent to kill or injure, court records show. — Devoun Cetoute, Miami Herald, 3 Oct. 2026

The bug must be sorted out, to keep the state within the bounds of constitutionally acceptable cruelty. — Doreen St. Félix, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2026

Death penalty opponents say Pike’s case highlights the inherent cruelty of capital punishment and have called for Tennessee officials to make the results of the investigation public. — Victoria Craw, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026

Tip Toe’s acknowledgement of both Leo’s humanity and Clive’s works not to excuse the cruelty that will claim Leo in the end, but to reaffirm it as a choice. — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026