French word

cruauté

Pronunciation

IPA/kʁyote/

Meaning

  • feminine nouncruelty

Example

La cruauté envers les animaux me révolte.

The cruelty toward animals outrages me.

Illustration for cruauté (cruelty)

More examples

Sa cruauté envers ses collègues a surpris tout le monde.

His cruelty toward his colleagues surprised everyone.

Core concept

A repeated or isolated act of harshness viewed as a quality that causes physical or emotional suffering.

Common phrases

  • cruauté envers

    cruelty toward ___

  • acte de cruauté

    an act of cruelty

  • faire preuve de cruauté

    show cruelty

Similar words

brutalité: Forceful, rough conduct that causes bodily pain or physical damage.
violence: Physical force used to injure another person or cause them pain.
méchanceté: Spiteful behavior or a mean nature that hurts other people's feelings.
inhumanité: Behavior lacking compassion and causing human suffering.

Definition in French

Traitement brutal, ponctuel ou répété, causant souffrance physique ou morale à une personne, un groupe ou un animal.

Word origin

The French noun cruauté is historically related to cruel and ultimately descends from Latin crudelitas through Old French.

Usage tips

  • The related adjective is cruel in the masculine and cruelle in the feminine, whereas cruauté names the quality itself.

Opposites

Related words

  • cruelcrueladjective
  • cruellementcruellyadverb

Word lists with this word