cruel (
http://definr.com/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]