cruel example sentences
Related (14): cruelty, cruelly, unkind, harsh, brutal, vicious, heartless, merciless, callous, sadistic, compassionate, kind, gentle, merciful
" cruel" Example Sentences
Common Phrases
- cruel and unusual
- cruel to be kind
- cruel irony
- cruel fate
- cruel streak
- cruel treatment
- cruel joke
- cruel world
- unnecessarily cruel
- deliberately cruel
Examples by Level
A1
- The cruel man hurt the small dog.
- She was cruel to her little brother and made him cry.
A2
- It was cruel of him to laugh at her mistake in front of everyone.
- The cruel winter was so cold that the river froze completely.
B1
- Looking back, I realize how cruel I was to people who were just trying to help.
- There's something almost cruel about how quickly people move on after a breakup.
B2
- The cruel irony was that she'd spent years avoiding the very thing that could have saved her.
- He recognized in himself a cruel capacity for indifference that he didn't like but couldn't quite shake.
C1
- What we often mistake for honesty is merely a cruel refusal to consider the impact of our words.
- The system's cruel indifference to individual suffering was perhaps its most damning feature.
C2
- There exists a particular kind of cruelty in withholding from someone the knowledge that might have changed everything — not the crude cruelty of violence, but something far more insidious.
- She'd learned that the most cruel truths are often the ones we already knew but refused to name.
Examples by Scenario
🏠 Everyday Life
- My neighbor made a cruel comment about my garden and I've been annoyed ever since.
- The kids at school can be so cruel to anyone who's even slightly different.
💼 Workplace
- The manager's cruel way of delivering feedback made everyone dread performance reviews.
- Someone left a cruel note on the break room fridge and nobody owns up to it.
📊 Business
- The company's decision to cut benefits right before the holidays felt deliberately cruel to employees.
- Their competitor's cruel pricing strategy undercut the entire market.
🛒 Buying / Shopping
- The store's cruel return policy means you basically can't send anything back.
- It's cruel how much they mark up prices right before a sale.
✈️ Travel
- The airline's cruel baggage fees meant we had to leave half our stuff behind.
- Traveling during peak season is cruel on your wallet and your patience.
📚 Education
- The teacher's cruel grading system crushed the confidence of most students.
- Bullying in schools can be shockingly cruel, and nobody does anything about it.
❤️ Relationships
- He said something cruel during the argument that I don't think I'll ever fully forgive.
- The cruel thing about loving someone who doesn't love you back is the false hope.
📰 News / Politics
- The cruel reality of the policy is that it disproportionately harms the most vulnerable.
- Critics called the government's response to the crisis cruel and inadequate.
💻 Technology
- The algorithm's cruel efficiency in targeting ads at your insecurities is honestly impressive.
- Social media makes it too easy to be cruel to strangers without consequences.
📝 Formal Writing
- The study examined the cruel effects of prolonged isolation on mental health outcomes.
- Historical records document the cruel practices that were commonplace in that era.