cruel

adj.

1. 残酷的；冷酷的；残忍的；残暴的
   having a desire to cause pain and suffering
   1. a cruel dictator
      残暴的独裁者
   2. I can't stand people who are cruel to animals.
      我无法容忍虐待动物的人。
   3. Her eyes were cruel and hard.
      她目光冷酷。
   4. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind (= make sb suffer because it will be good for them later) .
      有时候为了某人好你就得对他狠。
2. 引起痛苦的
   causing pain or suffering
   1. a cruel punishment/joke
      残酷的惩罚；挖苦人的笑话
   2. Her father's death was a cruel blow .
      父亲去世对她是一大打击。

in AM, use 美国英语用 crueler, cruelest


1. ADJ-GRADED 残酷的;冷酷的;残忍的;残暴的
   Someone who is cruel deliberately causes pain or distress to people or animals.
   1. Children can be so cruel...
      孩子有时可能会相当残忍。
   2. Don't you think it's cruel to cage a creature up?
      你不认为把动物关进笼里太残忍了吗？
2. ADJ-GRADED (处境或事件)引起痛苦的，残酷的
   A situation or event that is cruel is very harsh and causes people distress.
   1. ...struggling to survive in a cruel world with which they cannot cope...
      在一个难以应付的残酷世界里拼命求生
   2. By a cruel irony, his horse came down on a flat part of the course.
      十分残酷而且极具讽刺意味的是，他的马在赛场的平地上摔倒了。

1. Animal rights advocates argue that zoos are really animal prisons and very often cruel.
   动物权利保护者指出动物园实际上是动物的牢笼，经常很残酷地对待动物。
2. These cruel devices are designed to stop prisoners bending their legs
   这些残酷的刑具是用来阻止犯人弯腿的。
3. He is still the butt of cruel jokes about his humble origins.
   他仍然因出身低微而被人无情嘲笑。
4. Marion's father counter-attacked by saying that Blaze's claims were cruel and untrue.
   玛丽昂的父亲反击说布拉兹的说法冷酷无情，根本是在撒谎。
5. Children can be so cruel
   孩子有时可能会相当残忍。
6. Don't you think it's cruel to cage a creature up?
   你不认为把动物关进笼里太残忍了吗？
7. By a cruel irony, his horse came down on a flat part of the course.
   十分残酷而且极具讽刺意味的是，他的马在赛场的平地上摔倒了。
8. You've been the victim of a rather cruel deception.
   你是一场相当残忍的骗局的受害者。
9. No doubt I'm biased, but it was the most cruel, evil human face I ever set eyes on
   我固然是有偏见的，但那是我所见到的最残忍、最邪恶的人。
10. The detainees are often held in cruel and inhuman conditions
    被拘留者的关押环境常常恶劣严酷、很不人道。
11. It is plainly cruel to keep turtles as pets.
    显然，养海龟作宠物十分残忍。
12. He used a phrase I hate: 'You have to be cruel to be kind.'
    他说了一句我讨厌的话：“要想善良，就得残忍。”
13. You may scoff but I honestly feel I'm being cruel only to be kind
    你可能不以为然，但我真的认为我狠下心来只是出于一片好意。
14. He was self-centred, but he wasn't cruel.
    他很自私，但是并非无情。
15. The wind was not as sharp and cruel as it had been.
    风不像刚才那么凛冽和凶猛了。
16. After a cruel tongue lashing, he threw the girl out of the group.
    一番严厉斥责之后，他把那女孩赶出了团队。
17. In a cruel twist of fate, Ann's husband Bill is also suffering from the disease.
    造物弄人，安的丈夫比尔也患上了那种病。
18. He did not think he was any more cruel, any more vengeful than other men.
    他认为自己并不比其他人更冷酷，也不比别人更爱报复。
19. He was a cruel and vicious man
    他是一个残忍凶狠的男人。
20. It's cruel to make fun of a cripple.
    取笑瘸子是残忍的。
21. That big-bellied fellow was very cruel and greedy.
    那个大腹便便的家伙既贪婪又残恶。
22. It is cruel of him to make the donkey carry such a heavy load.
    他真心狠，让驴驮这么重的东西。
23. How cruel he is!;
    他的心肠真毒！
24. Accounts of cruel tortures in the jails of the reactionary government would curl one's hair.
    关于反动政府监狱里酷刑情况的介绍听了会叫人毛骨悚然。
25. The cruel man abandoned his wife and child.
    那个狠心的男人舍弃了妻小。
26. In the old society, owing to cruel exploitation and succesive years of tangled warfare among warloads, the labouring people led a vagrant life.
    在旧社会，残酷的剥削和连年不断的军阀混战，使劳动人民过着颠沛流离的生活。
27. Don't kick the cat out like that, it's cruel; lift it out gently.
    别那样往外踢猫，太残忍了，要轻轻地把猫放到屋外。
28. Her cruel words angered him.
    她那无情的话激怒了他。
29. To modern eyes, such doctrines appear harsh, even cruel.
    从现代的角度看，这样的教义显得苛刻，甚至残酷。
30. He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.
    他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。

  brutal cruel ruthless【导航词义：野蛮的】

  brutal adj. 野蛮的，残暴的

〔辨析〕指极为残忍、暴力、野蛮的，强调没有同情心，含不择手段的意味。

  cruel adj. 残忍的，残酷的

〔辨析〕普通用词，主要指行为或态度残忍的。

  ruthless adj. 残忍的，冷酷的

〔辨析〕指为了达到个人目的而对他人的痛苦毫无怜悯之心的。

adj

1. (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
   1. a barbarous crime
   2. brutal beatings
   3. cruel tortures
   4. Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks
   5. a savage slap
   6. vicious kicks

   Synonym:    barbarousbrutalfellroughshodsavagevicious