1. 残酷的，残忍的　 making others suffer, especially intentionally
2. 使人痛苦的，让人受难的　 causing pain or suffering

　～ act　残忍的行为
　～ animal　凶猛的动物
　～ blow　残忍的打击
　～ criticism　残酷的批评
　～ disease　痛苦的疾病
　～ enemy　残忍的敌人
　～ fate　残酷的命运
　～ master　残酷的主人
　～ parents　残忍的父母
　～ punishment　酷刑
　～ sight　悲惨的景象
　～ torment　痛苦的折磨
　～ treatment　残忍的待遇
　～ war　残酷的战争
　～ to the children　对儿童残忍
　～ to the poor　对穷人残忍

　The cruel man beat his wife.　那位狠心的男人打自己的妻子。
　The cruel woman threw the boy into a dark room.　那个残忍的女人把那孩子扔到一间黑屋里去。
　His cruel master nearly beat him to death.　残忍的主人差点把他打死。
　The cruel master beat his slaves mercilessly with a whip.　残暴的奴隶主用鞭子狠心地抽打奴隶。
　It was a cruel lesson.　这是个惨痛的教训。
　Fate dealt him a cruel blow.　命运给他以惨痛的打击。
　He was criticized for his cruel acts.　他因行为残忍而受到了批评。
　The cruel war caused great disasters to the people.　残酷的战争给人民带来了巨大的灾难。
　What a cruel sight it was!　这是一个多么悲惨的情景！
　"How dare you say I'm unfair?"said Mr. White in a cruel voice.　怀特先生恶狠狠地说：“你竟敢说我不公平！”
　Anyone who likes watching people suffer is cruel.　喜欢看别人受苦的人都是残酷的人。
　How could he be so cruel?　他怎能这样无情呢?
　Tigers are cruel by nature.　老虎生性残暴。
　The disappointment was cruel.　失望是令人痛苦的。
　The summers there are really cruel.　那儿的夏天真热得够呛。
　They were very cruel to their prisoners of war.　他们对待战俘很残酷。
　A mother who is cruel to her child is unnatural.　对自己的孩子残忍的母亲是不近人情的。
　Don't be cruel to animals.　别虐待动物。
　It was cruel of her to kick her sick mother out.　她把患病的母亲赶出大门，真是残忍。
　It was cruel of him to say that.　他说那话真是狠心。
　It was cruel of them to make the donkey carry such a heavy load.　他们让驴子驮那样重的东西，真是残忍。
　It was cruel of Tom to tease that little boy.　汤姆嘲弄那个小男孩是很残忍的事。
　It is cruel to hit a dog with a stick.　用棍子打狗是残忍的行为。

 ♣ cruel to be kind
　忠言逆耳　help sb by using unpleasant methods
　I had to be cruel to be kind and warn him that he'd lose his job if he didn't improve his performance.　我只得忠言逆耳地警告他，如果他的表现不改进的话，他会失业的。

 ♣ cruel, brutal
　这两个词的意思都是“残忍的”，其区别仅在于程度上。后者表示“极度残酷”，语义比前者强得多。例如：
　Murder is a brutal crime.　谋杀是极残忍的罪行。

　这样做真残忍。
　［误］ It was very cruel doing so.
　［正］ It was very cruel to do so.
　［析］ cruel后可接动词不定式，但不接动名词。

　在句型It is/was ～ of sb to-v中， of后的sb指该句所谈及的对象，形容词cruel表示讲话者对这个对象的行为（即动词不定式）的评价。这种结构还用于许多其他形容词，如kind, brave, careless, clever, stupid等。注意这一句型中的动词不定式如根据上下文不言自明，则可省略。例如：
　It was very cruel of you.　你非常残忍。
　另外，本句型中的介词of不可误用为for.

　［同义词］ bitter, hard, merciless, ungentle, unkind
　［反义词］ kind, merciful
　［词源］古法语、拉丁语cruclelis（残忍的）