cruel

adj 1: lacking or showing kindness or compassion or mercy [syn: {unkind}]

2: (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict

pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings";

"cruel tortures"; "Stalin's roughshod treatment of the

kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious kicks" [syn: {barbarous},

{brutal}, {fell}, {roughshod}, {savage}, {vicious}]

3: (of weapons or instruments) causing suffering and pain;

"brutal instruments of torture"; "cruel weapons of war"

[syn: {brutal}]

4: (of circumstances; especially weather) causing suffering;

"brutal weather"; "northern winters can be cruel"; "a

cruel world"; "a harsh climate; "a rigorous climate";

"unkind winters" [syn: {brutal}, {harsh}, {rigorous}, {unkind}]