Cru'el, a.

a. [Fr. cruel, Pr. cruel, cruzel, Sp. & Pg. cruel, It. crudele, Lat. crudelis, from crudus. See CRUDE.] 1. Disposed to give pain to others; willing or pleased to torment, vex, or afflict; destitute of sympathetic kindness and pity; savage; barbarous; hard-hearted. Behold a people cometh from the north country; . . . they are cruel and have no mercy. Jer. vi. 22, 23. Whate’er thou tak’st me for, I am sure Thou hast a cruel nature and a bloody. Shak. 2. Causing, or fitted to cause, pain, grief, or misery; barbarous; savage. “Cruel wars, wasting the earth.” Milton. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. Gen. xlix. 7. This most cruel usage of your queen . . . . . . something savors Of tyranny. Shak.