From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcrueltycru‧el‧ty /ˈkruːəlti/ ●●○ noun (plural cruelties) 1 [countable, uncountable]CRUEL behaviour or actions that deliberately cause pain to people or animals OPP kindness The children had suffered cruelty and neglect. There was a hint of cruelty in Brian’s smile.cruelty to cruelty to animalscruelty of the cruelty of the slave trade The deliberate cruelty of his words cut her like a knife. the cruelties of war2 [uncountable]UNFAIR the unfairness of something that happens the cruelty of life
Examples from the Corpus
cruelty• His wife denies 20 cruelty charges.• Burnett has campaigned against cruelty to animals for more than 20 years.• You have to go beyond that, transcend revenge and pique and cruelty and cowardice.• Through the passing days, the biting cruelty of it all slowly healed, leaving only the scar tissue.• Her black eye and bruises were undeniable evidence of his cruelty.• There was an edge of cruelty to their jokes.• Each year animal welfare groups document instances of cruelty, but prosecutions have been rare.• There is in these miniatures an arresting potion of cruelty.• There have been reports of cruelty and rape from the war zone.• Within the familiarity of marriage there are many subtle ways of showing anger, contempt or cruelty.• What kind of person could treat a fellow human being with such cruelty?• But the horror which writers such as Dickens expressed at the cruelty of his times was prompted by no such knowledge.• Khrushchev officially revealed the cruelties of Stalin's regime.cruelty to• Cruelty to animals is punishable by law. 