cruelties

Variant of cruelty

noun

  1. the quality or condition of being cruel; inhumanity; hardheartedness
  2. pl. cruelties a cruel action, remark, etc.
  3. Law willful infliction of physical pain or suffering upon a person or animal, or of mental distress upon a person

Origin: ME cruelte < OFr < L crudelitas < cruel

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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