cruelly

cruelly — adverb

1. behaving or speaking towards someone or something in a deliberately hurtful way,

1.adverbB1
Definition

behaving or speaking towards someone or something in a deliberately hurtful way, with no concern for their feelings.

Example

Rin's classmates cruelly mocked her accent during her first week at the school.

cruelly + verb of mistreatment (mocked)

The villagers were cruelly punished for refusing to cooperate with the soldiers.

passive: were cruelly punished

Common collocations
  • cruelly mocked
  • cruelly punished
  • cruelly treated
  • cruelly abandoned
  • cruelly excluded
Synonyms
  • brutally

    emphasizes physical violence or rough treatment

  • viciously

    suggests deliberate malice and a desire to harm

  • mercilessly

    highlights a complete lack of pity or compassion

Antonyms
  • kindly

    with warmth and concern for others

  • gently

    with care and softness

Grammar Patterns

cruelly + verb of mistreatment (mock, punish, abandon)

Usage Note

Pairs with verbs describing harmful actions toward people or animals, such as mock, punish, treat, abandon, exclude, or reject.

Common Mistakes

He cruel hit the dog.
He cruelly hit the dog.
'cruel' is an adjective; the adverb 'cruelly' must be used to modify verbs.

2. used for events or situations that inflict great pain or hardship on someone, of

2.adverbB1
Definition

used for events or situations that inflict great pain or hardship on someone, often giving a sense of unfairness.

Example

The drought cruelly destroyed the crops that farmers had planted with such hope.

cruelly + verb of destruction (destroyed)

Quan was cruelly trapped in a job that paid barely enough to survive.

passive: was cruelly trapped in

Common collocations
  • cruelly destroyed
  • cruelly trapped
  • cruelly separated
  • cruelly deceived
  • cruelly taken away
Synonyms
  • harshly

    emphasizes the severity of the situation

  • painfully

    focuses on the suffering experienced by the victim

  • grimly

    suggests a bleak, hopeless quality in events

Antonyms
  • mercifully

    used when a difficult situation ends or is avoided

Grammar Patterns

cruelly + verb of circumstance (destroy, trap, separate, take away)

Usage Note

Typically describes impersonal forces such as fate, weather, or circumstances rather than deliberate human cruelty. Distinguish from sense 1, where a person intentionally behaves in a hurtful way.

3. used before adjectives or verbs to mean 'extremely' or 'to a very harsh degree,'

3.adverbB2
Definition

used before adjectives or verbs to mean 'extremely' or 'to a very harsh degree,' emphasizing how unpleasant or difficult something is.

Example

The rent in that neighborhood was cruelly expensive for a young teacher like Megan.

collocation: cruelly expensive

Walid's training schedule was cruelly demanding, with workouts at five every morning.

collocation: cruelly demanding

Common collocations
  • cruelly expensive
  • cruelly demanding
  • cruelly cold
  • cruelly difficult
Synonyms
  • terribly

    more common in everyday speech as an intensifier

  • dreadfully

    similar dramatic tone; slightly more common in British English

  • awfully

    very common in everyday speech across varieties of English

Grammar Patterns

cruelly + adjective (expensive, demanding, cold)

cruelly + verb of harsh quality (blow, cut)

Usage Note

This usage is somewhat literary or dramatic in tone rather than everyday casual speech. Common in fixed pairings such as cruelly expensive and cruelly cold.

Common Mistakes

It was cruelly hot outside.
The midday sun was cruelly hot that afternoon.
The intensifier sounds most natural when describing a situation that feels actively harsh or oppressive, not just any quality.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adverb/1

Brutally, viciously, and mercilessly all overlap with cruelly but carry different emphases. Brutally often implies physical roughness or violence — a person can be brutally honest without intending harm, unlike the deliberate malice of viciously. Viciously suggests calculated or repeated cruelty, with an active desire to inflict pain. Mercilessly focuses on the complete absence of pity or leniency; it can apply to both people (a mercilessly critical boss) and impersonal forces (mercilessly hot weather). Cruelly sits between these: it can describe deliberate human cruelty ('She cruelly ignored his calls') or the harshness of circumstances ('The winter was cruelly long'). For direct cruelty by people, brutally and viciously are stronger; for situations, mercilessly is closest.

brutallyviciouslymercilessly

Common collocations

Phrases

  • be cruelly treated
  • treat someone cruelly
  • act cruelly
  • behave cruelly

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

From the adjective cruel, which entered English through Old French cruel, from Latin crudelis meaning 'hard-hearted' or 'savage.' The Latin root crudus originally meant 'rough, raw, or bloody' — the same root that gives us crude. The adverb form cruelly was formed by adding the common English adverb suffix -ly.