"cruel" meaning in English

See cruel in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /krʊəɫ/ [UK] Audio: en-us-cruel.ogg [US] Forms: crueller [comparative], cruellest [superlative], cruel [positive], crueler [comparative], cruelest [superlative]
enPR: /kro͝əl/ [UK] Head templates: {{adj|cruel|crueller|cruellest}} [POS TABLE], {{adj|cruel|crueler|cruelest}} [POS TABLE]
  1. Someone who is cruel is mean. They hurt other people and don't care, or they like hurting other people.
    Sense id: simple-cruel-en-adj--PXJX1oX
  2. An action is cruel if only cruel people would do it.
    Sense id: simple-cruel-en-adj-~ZD2u-HW
     
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "crueller",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cruellest",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cruel",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "crueler",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cruelest",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "cruel",
        "2": "crueller",
        "3": "cruellest"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "cruel",
        "2": "crueler",
        "3": "cruelest"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The cruel guard pushed the prisoners so hard that some of them fell down."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone who is cruel is mean. They hurt other people and don't care, or they like hurting other people."
      ],
      "id": "simple-cruel-en-adj--PXJX1oX"
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It's cruel to make children work 10 hours a day."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An action is cruel if only cruel people would do it."
      ],
      "id": "simple-cruel-en-adj-~ZD2u-HW"
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "/kro͝əl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/krʊəɫ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-cruel.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cruel"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "crueller",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cruellest",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cruel",
      "tags": [
        "positive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "crueler",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cruelest",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "cruel",
        "2": "crueller",
        "3": "cruellest"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "cruel",
        "2": "crueler",
        "3": "cruelest"
      },
      "expansion": "[POS TABLE]",
      "name": "adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The cruel guard pushed the prisoners so hard that some of them fell down."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Someone who is cruel is mean. They hurt other people and don't care, or they like hurting other people."
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It's cruel to make children work 10 hours a day."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An action is cruel if only cruel people would do it."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "enpr": "/kro͝əl/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/krʊəɫ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-us-cruel.ogg",
      "raw_tags": [
        "Audio"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cruel"
}

Download raw JSONL data for cruel meaning in English (1.1kB)

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the simplewiktionary dump dated 2024-10-20 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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