Cruel (krl), a.
Etymology: [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]
1. Disposed to give pain to others; willing or pleased to hurt, torment, or afflict; destitute of sympathetic kindness and pity; savage; inhuman; hard-hearted; merciless. Behold a people cometh from the north country; . . . they are cruel and have no mercy. Jer. vi. 22,23.
2. Causing, or fitted to cause, pain, grief, or misery. Cruel wars, wasting the earth. Milton. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath for it was cruel. Gen. xlix. 7.
3. Attended with cruetly; painful; harsh. You have seen cruel proof of this man's strength. Shak.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Cruel (krl), n.
See Crewel.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for cruel; he lists it under barbarous.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.