cruelty
cru·el·ty/ˈkɹuː(.ə)lti/noun
cruelty is spelled C-R-U-E-L-T-Y: 7 letters and 3 syllables (cru·el·ty). It appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cruelty means “An indifference to suffering or pleasure in inflicting suffering” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cruelty is cruelties.
How many letters and syllables are in cruelty?
| Letters | 7: C-R-U-E-L-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: cru·el·ty |
| In writing | 5.8 times per million words; the 10,196th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cruelty?
Cruelty appears 5.8 times per million words in written English, the 10,196th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cruelty?
- UK /ˈkɹuː(.ə)lti/
- British [ˈkɹʉwltɪj]
- British [ˈkɹʊwltɪj]
Cruelty has 3 syllables, split cru·el·ty in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cruelty.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cruelty?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as cruelty (/ulti/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: cutlery.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cruelty
- cruelties plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cruelty mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An indifference to suffering or pleasure in inflicting suffering.
- 2
A cruel act.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cruelty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cruauté |
| German | Grausamkeit , Quälerei |
| Portuguese | crueldade , perversidade |
| Spanish | crueldad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cruelty come from?
From Middle English cruelte, from Old French crualté (French cruauté), from Latin crudelitas. By surface analysis, cruel + -ty.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).