How to Use cruel in a Sentence

cruel

adjective
  • Hunger is a cruel fact of nature.
  • Yet there was a cruel twist to come.
    — Tom Burrows, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026
  • My alarm is just cruel at this point.
    — R29 Team, Refinery29, 29 Sep. 2025
  • That’s the cruel irony at the heart of this show.
    — Hanna Wickes, Sacbee.com, 1 Apr. 2026
  • The cruelest part is that the good ones are mixed with the bad ones.
    — Matt Rivers, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2025
  • Kids can be cruel, as the old saying goes.
    — Dr. Mahvash Madni, Boston Herald, 4 Jan. 2026
  • Heartless and cruel are words that come to mind.
    — Nicole Acosta, PEOPLE, 31 Jan. 2026
  • Maybe the cruelest part of golf at this level.
    — Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 20 June 2026
  • Men make choices and can be quite cruel when caught up in evil.
    — Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, 19 July 2021
  • Like other cuts here, this move isn’t just cruel.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Feb. 2026
  • Screenlife movies just seem cruel at this point.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 13 May 2026
  • This is how cruel football can be.
    — Elias Burke, New York Times, 7 May 2026
  • The ping pong balls, like the hockey gods, can be cruel.
    — Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 8 May 2026
  • Online trolls told me the things my own brain was telling me at its cruelest.
    — Sarah Bence, Verywell Health, 8 July 2024
  • Some kind of cruel night minder?
    — Literary Hub, 15 May 2026
  • That’s the cruel beauty of golf.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Then came the final cruel twist.
    — Patrick Boyland, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026
  • March may be the cruelest month in Saint-Tropez.
    — Lanie Goodman, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Mar. 2026
  • There’s something so cruel about that.
    — Marah Eakin, Vulture, 20 May 2026
  • Please pray for our Soldiers all around this cruel world.
    — Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 15 Dec. 2025
  • Is this where a bad Mets season takes its cruelest turn?
    — Will Sammon, New York Times, 3 June 2026
  • Getting him a tiger to care for and be mauled by would be just — but cruel to the tiger.
    — Judge John Hodgman, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2020
  • As the clock winds down, Fenn might be in for a cruel summer.
    — Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2023
  • Fame has its burdens, some of which can be cruel to the psyche.
    — Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 24 May 2022
  • There is no reason to be cruel to people.
    — Sigal Ratner-Arias, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2025
  • And have such a cruel person do something like that.
    — James Powel, USA Today, 15 May 2026
  • Did people tell cruel jokes about your father in front of you?
    — John Blake, CNN Money, 9 June 2026
  • To do that to a writer — or to anyone about their work — is cruel.
    — Laurie Hertzel, Chicago Tribune, 26 Nov. 2022
  • Let’s work to rid ourselves of the cruel policies that hurt so many.
    — Mansoor Shams, Baltimore Sun, 8 Feb. 2026
  • Every false hope and turnover chain felt crueler than the last.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 6 Jan. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cruel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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