Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to cruel
Participle: cruelled
Gerund: cruelling
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | cruel |
| you | cruel |
| he;she;it | cruels |
| we | cruel |
| you | cruel |
| they | cruel |
Perfect
| I | have cruelled |
| you | have cruelled |
| he;she;it | has cruelled |
| we | have cruelled |
| you | have cruelled |
| they | have cruelled |
Past
| I | cruelled |
| you | cruelled |
| he;she;it | cruelled |
| we | cruelled |
| you | cruelled |
| they | cruelled |
Pluperfect
| I | had cruelled |
| you | had cruelled |
| he;she;it | had cruelled |
| we | had cruelled |
| you | had cruelled |
| they | had cruelled |
Future
| I | will cruel |
| you | will cruel |
| he;she;it | will cruel |
| we | will cruel |
| you | will cruel |
| they | will cruel |
Future Perfect
| I | will have cruelled |
| you | will have cruelled |
| he;she;it | will have cruelled |
| we | will have cruelled |
| you | will have cruelled |
| they | will have cruelled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | cruel |
| you | cruel |
| he;she;it | cruel |
| we | cruel |
| you | cruel |
| they | cruel |
Perfect
| I | have cruelled |
| you | have cruelled |
| he;she;it | have cruelled |
| we | have cruelled |
| you | have cruelled |
| they | have cruelled |
Imperfect
| I | cruelled |
| you | cruelled |
| he;she;it | cruelled |
| we | cruelled |
| you | cruelled |
| they | cruelled |
Pluperfect
| I | had cruelled |
| you | had cruelled |
| he;she;it | had cruelled |
| we | had cruelled |
| you | had cruelled |
| they | had cruelled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would cruel |
| you | would cruel |
| he;she;it | would cruel |
| we | would cruel |
| you | would cruel |
| they | would cruel |
Perfect
| I | would have cruelled |
| you | would have cruelled |
| he;she;it | would have cruelled |
| we | would have cruelled |
| you | would have cruelled |
| they | would have cruelled |
Imperative
| you | cruel |
| we | Let's cruel |
| you | cruel |
Verbs conjugated like 'cruel'
abet,
abhor,
abut,
acquit,
admit,
affrap,
allot,
alum,
amel,
amit,
anagram,
anvil,
apparel,
aret,
arret,
assot,
astun,
attrap,
augur,
avel, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'cruel'
creel,
cartel,
ciel,
corbel,
craal,
crawl,
creed,
creep,
crew,
crewel,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
From Middle English cruel, borrowed from Old French cruel, from Latin crūdēlis (“hard, severe, cruel”), akin to crūdus (“raw, crude”); see crude.
Sample Sentences
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What cruelled him was that Imperial Hotel contract. [1937, Vance Palmer, Legend for Sanderson, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, page 226:]
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He was on the fringes of Test selection last year before a shoulder injury cruelled his chances. [2014 April 1, The Sydney Morning Herald:]
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A shortage of berth space for mega container ships will restrict capacity at Melbourne's port, cruelling Labor's attempts to get maximum value from its privatisation, a leading shipping expert has warned. [2015 September 8, The Age:]
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The Trump effect has cruelled Peter Dutton’s campaign. [2025 May 1, Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry, “The Trump effect has left Dutton exposed and Albanese in poll position in this atypical election race”, in The Guardian:]
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Violence is apparently introduced early by the practice of "cruelling": children even in their first months are physically punished and then encouraged to seek retribution by punishing the punisher. [2007, Stewart Motha, “Reconciliation as Domination”, in Scott Veitch, editor, Law and the Politics of Reconciliation, Routledge, published 2016, page 83:]
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[…] I was referring to the area where you were talking about this practice of cruelling; the pinching of babies, sometimes so hard that their skin breaks and may go septic. [2009 July 2, Mark Colvin, “Peter Sutton discusses the politics of suffering in Aboriginal communities”, in ABC, archived from the original on 17 Jan 2010:]