cruel
cruelest; crueler
Someone or something that inflicts pain or causes suffering can be described as cruel. It would be cruel of you to offer chocolate to someone on a diet.
High school can be cruel sometimes: cruel teachers, who seem to organize to all pile on the papers and tests for the same day; cruel students, who are mean to each other; and even cruel cafeteria workers, who create disgusting concoctions out of mystery meat. Through its Latin ancestors — crudelis "rude and unfeeling" and crudus "raw or rude" — cruel is related to the English word crude, meaning rude or not fully formed.
Vocabulary lists containing cruel
Andrew Smith's hilarious and irreverent novel follows fourteen-year-old Ryan Dean West as he attempts to navigate friendship, love, and rugby while at boarding school.
Nancy Farmer's award-winning dystopian novel tells the story of Matt, clone and captive of a powerful feudal lord. Follow Matt as he tries to escape the sinister forces at work in the country of Opium.
In the third book of The Giver Quartet, award-winning author Lois Lowry tells the story of Matty, who risks his life to save his village. Along the way, Matty receives guidance from Leader (Jonas from The Giver) and reunites with Kira (from Gathering Blue).
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