How to Use cruel in a Sentence
cruel
adjective
- Hunger is a cruel fact of nature.
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The measure passed Thursday is one of the cruelest yet.
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Tori Otten,
The New Republic,
4 May 2023
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As the clock winds down, Fenn might be in for a cruel summer.
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Queenie Wong,
Los Angeles Times,
30 June 2023
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It’s the cruel racist joke that still hangs above the Statehouse door.
—
al,
16 Feb. 2022
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The reality is, to go on the run with the child is cruel and not fair.
—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
5 Mar. 2024
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The sport was very cruel in those decades, the sixties, the seventies and part of the eighties.
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Jim Clash,
Forbes,
18 Oct. 2024
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The brides did indeed find a strange (and cruel) way of showing it.
—
R. Eric Thomas,
The Denver Post,
3 Oct. 2024
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Online trolls told me the things my own brain was telling me at its cruelest.
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Sarah Bence,
Verywell Health,
8 July 2024
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The former is humble and kind, the latter is rich and cruel.
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Jessica Roiz,
Billboard,
6 Apr. 2023
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But the school’s photographer assigned me to the back row, next to the tallest boy in the class—such cruel fate!
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Thessaly La Force,
Vogue,
18 Jan. 2024
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To do that to a writer — or to anyone about their work — is cruel.
—
Laurie Hertzel,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Nov. 2022
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Fame has its burdens, some of which can be cruel to the psyche.
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Robin Givhan,
Washington Post,
24 May 2022
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Of course, returning the cat at this point would be cruel.
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John Hodgman,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2022
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Shahana Goswami plays the lead role of a widow who lands the job of a cop due to life’s cruel twists.
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Sweta Kaushal,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
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Shih has a rich voice and a stillness in his manner that makes his cruel words linger.
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Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Oct. 2023
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Nick Lowe and Shakespeare were wrong, about having to be cruel to be kind.
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Chris Willman,
Variety,
2 Sep. 2022
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The rumors are terrible and cruel but this time, one of them was true.
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Kelsie Gibson,
Peoplemag,
10 Aug. 2023
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But that doesn’t mean that the balmier Aurica won’t be cruel to a lot of species.
—
Stav Dimitropoulos,
Popular Mechanics,
25 May 2022
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So casually cruel, in the name of nothing at all — just for the hell of it.
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Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
2 Sep. 2022
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Gracie has a rather cruel habit of telling her teenage daughter that her arms are too fat.
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Tom Gliatto,
Peoplemag,
30 Nov. 2023
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None of it was cruel, and the skit was carefully rehearsed.
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Marc Myers,
WSJ,
1 Feb. 2022
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These ghosts are old and young, cruel and playful, loved or unknown.
—
Hazlitt,
29 Nov. 2022
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But Oz was born to take every cheap shot presented by the cruelest of fates.
—
Andy Andersen,
Vulture,
3 Nov. 2024
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The fashion world, in which the streets outside the shows, and the parties alongside them are as much a stage as the runway, can be cruel at times.
—
Leo Barraclough,
Variety,
26 Mar. 2022
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Gay quickly chimed in, citing cruel names that the page has posted about her.
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TIME,
24 Jan. 2024
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Life is cruel, all is vanity, the house always wins and the cosmic joke is on us.
—
Ty Burr,
Washington Post,
27 June 2024
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The regime seemed oblivious to the irony that its own prisons were every bit as cruel.
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Kian Tajbakhsh,
The Atlantic,
1 Nov. 2022
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And, because boys can be cruel and girls can give glares, to some too natural.
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Rembert Browne,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Oct. 2022
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Even then, the final late twist with the penalty felt particularly cruel.
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Patrick Boyland,
The Athletic,
23 Feb. 2025
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The cruel irony here is that Trump has access to and the ability to command the production of the best intelligence and analysis that money can buy.
—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
20 Feb. 2025
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cruel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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