different between cruel vs indifferent

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: kro?o?l, IPA^(key): /k?u?(?)l/
• Rhymes: -??l, -u?l
• Hyphenation: cru?el

Etymology 1

From Middle English cruel, borrowed from Old French cruel, from Latin cr?d?lis (“hard, severe, cruel”), akin to cr?dus (“raw, crude”); see crude.

Adjective

cruel (comparative crueler or crueller or more cruel, superlative cruelest or cruellest or most cruel)

1. Intentionally causing or reveling in pain and suffering; merciless, heartless.

   Synonym: sadistic

   Antonym: merciful

2. Harsh; severe.
   • 2013, Ranulph Fiennes, Cold: Extreme Adventures at the Lowest Temperatures on Earth

     He was physically the toughest of us and wore five layers of polar clothing, but the cold was cruel and wore us down hour after hour.

   • 1951 C. S. Lewis, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia

     You may be sure they watched the cliffs on their left eagerly for any sign of a break or any place where they could climb them; but those cliffs remained cruel.

   Synonym: brutal

3. (slang) Cool; awesome; neat.

Derived terms

• be cruel to be kind
• cruel-hearted
• cruelly
• cruelness
• cruelsome
• goodbye, cruel world
• overcruel

Related terms

• crude
• cruelty

Translations

Adverb

cruel (not comparable)

1. (nonstandard) To a great degree; terribly.

Verb

cruel (third-person singular simple present cruels, present participle cruelling, simple past and past participle cruelled)

1. (chiefly Australia, New Zealand) To spoil or ruin (one's chance of success)
   • 1937, Vance Palmer, Legend for Sanderson, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, p. 226, [2]

     What cruelled him was that Imperial Hotel contract.

   • 2014, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 April, 2014, [3]

     He was on the fringes of Test selection last year before a shoulder injury cruelled his chances.

   • 2015, The Age, 8 September, 2015, [4]

     A shortage of berth space for mega container ships will restrict capacity at Melbourne's port, cruelling Labor's attempts to get maximum value from its privatisation, a leading shipping expert has warned.

2. (Australia, transitive, intransitive) To violently provoke (a child) in the belief that this will make them more assertive.
   • 2007, Stewart Motha, "Reconciliation as Domination" in Scott Veitch (ed.), Law and the Politics of Reconciliation, Routledge, 2016, p. 83, [5]

     Violence is apparently introduced early by the practice of "cruelling": children even in their first months are physically punished and then encouraged to seek retribution by punishing the punisher.

   • 2009, Mark Colvin, ABC, "Peter Sutton discusses the politics of suffering in Aboriginal communities," 2 July, 2009, [6]

     […] I was referring to the area where you were talking about this practice of cruelling; the pinching of babies, sometimes so hard that their skin breaks and may go septic.

Etymology 2

Noun

cruel (countable and uncountable, plural cruels)

1. Alternative form of crewel

Further reading

• cruel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• cruel in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• lucre, ulcer

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin cr?d?lis.

Adjective

cruel (epicene, plural crueles)

1. cruel

Related terms

• crueldá
• crudu

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin cr?d?lis.

Adjective

cruel (masculine and feminine plural cruels)

1. cruel

Derived terms

• cruelment

Related terms

• crueltat
• cru

Further reading

• “cruel” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

From Old French cruel, from Latin cr?d?lis; either remade based on the Latin or evolved from the Old French form crual, possibly from a Vulgar Latin form *cr?d?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?y.?l/
• Homophones: cruels, cruelle, cruelles

Adjective

cruel (feminine singular cruelle, masculine plural cruels, feminine plural cruelles)

1. cruel
2. hard, painful

Synonyms

• féroce
• pénible

Derived terms

• cruellement

Related terms

• cruauté
• cru

Further reading

• “cruel” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• culer
• recul

Galician

Etymology

From Old Portuguese [Term?], from Latin cr?d?lis.

Adjective

cruel m or f (plural crueis)

1. cruel

Derived terms

• cruelment

Related terms

• crueldade
• cru

Middle English

Alternative forms

• kruell, cruele, cruwel, crewel, cruell, cruwelle, crewelle, cruelle, crowell

Etymology

From Old French crual, from Latin cr?d?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kriu????l/, /?kriu??l/, /?kriu??l/, /?kru?l/

Adjective

cruel

1. Merciless, cruel; revelling in another's pain.
2. Deleterious, injurious; conducive to suffering.
3. Unbearable, saddening, terrifying.
4. Strict, unforgiving, mean; not nice.
5. Savage, vicious, dangerous; displaying ferocity.
6. Bold, valiant, heroic (in war)
7. (rare) Sharp, acrid, bitter-tasting.

Derived terms

• cruelheed
• cruelly
• cruelnesse
• cruelte

Descendants

• English: cruel
• Scots: cruel

References

• “cr???l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-12.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Portuguese cruel, from Latin cr?d?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /k?u.???/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /k?u.??w/
• Rhymes: -?w

Adjective

cruel (plural cruéis, comparable)

1. (of a person or creature) cruel (that intentionally causes or revels in pain and suffering)

   Synonym: bárbaro

2. (of a situation or occurrence) cruel; harsh; severe

   Synonyms: severo, terrível, pesado

3. (of a doubt or question) distressful

   Synonym: terrível

4. (of an occurrence) bloody; violent

   Synonyms: sangrento, cruento, sanguinolento

Derived terms

• cruelmente

Related terms

• crueldade
• cru

Spanish

Etymology

From Old Spanish, from Latin cr?d?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?wel/, [?k?wel]

Adjective

cruel (plural crueles)

1. cruel, mean

Derived terms

• cruelmente

Related terms

• crueldad
• crudo

Further reading

• “cruel” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

English

Etymology

From Old French indifferent, from Latin indifferens.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?d?f.??nt/, /?n?d?f.?.??nt/
• Hyphenation: in?dif?fer?ent

Adjective

indifferent (comparative more indifferent, superlative most indifferent)

1. Not caring or concerned; uninterested, apathetic.
   • 1816, Jane Austen, Emma, Volume 2, Chapter 16,^[1]

     “I must not hope to be ever situated as you are, in the midst of every dearest connexion, and therefore I cannot expect that simply growing older should make me indifferent about letters.”

     “Indifferent! Oh! no—I never conceived you could become indifferent. Letters are no matter of indifference; they are generally a very positive curse.”

   • 1933, George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, Chapter 3,^[2]

     When you have a hundred francs in the world you are liable to the most craven panics. When you have only three francs you are quite indifferent; for three francs will feed you till tomorrow, and you cannot think further than that. You are bored, but you are not afraid.

2. Indicating or reflecting a lack of concern or care.
   • 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Chapter 25,^[3]

     Donald appeared not to see her at all, and answered her wise little remarks with curtly indifferent monosyllables […]

   • 1990, J. M. Coetzee, Age of Iron, London: Secker & Warburg, p. 33,

     ‘Wonderful, Florence,’ I said, producing the ritual phrases: ‘I don’t know what I would do without you.’ But of course I do know. I would sink into the indifferent squalor of old age.

3. Mediocre (usually used negatively in modern usage).
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Dublin: John Smith, Volume 2, Book 10, Chapter 9, p. 275,^[4]

     When Mrs. Honour had made her Report from the Landlord, Sophia, with much Difficulty, procured some indifferent Horses, which brought her to the Inn, where Jones had been confined rather by the Misfortune of meeting with a Surgeon, than by having met with a broken Head.

   • 1826, Walter Scott, Woodstock, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable, Volume I, Chapter 3, p. 84,^[5]

     […] the state-rooms are unaired, and in indifferent order, since of late years.

   • 1965, Muriel Spark, The Mandelbaum Gate, Part 2, p. 252,^[6]

     Suddenly Barbara remembered the party where she had first met Ruth Gardnor with her husband. The night of the dinner party. And the cello: it had been an indifferent performance.

4. Having no preference or bias, being impartial.
   • 1713, Joseph Addison, Cato, a Tragedy, London: J. Tonson, Act V, Scene 1, p. 57,^[7]

     […] Let Guilt or Fear

     Disturb Man’s Rest: Cato knows neither of ’em,

     Indiff’rent in his Choice to sleep or die.

   • 1933, H. G. Wells, The Shape of Things to Come, Book 3, Part 7,^[8]

     The scientific worker aims at knowledge and is quite indifferent whether people like or dislike the knowledge he produces.

5. Not making a difference; without significance or importance.
   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 3,^[9]

     […] But I am arm’d,

     And dangers are to me indifferent.

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, “Of Contentedness” in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, 8th edition, London: Richard Royston, 1668, Chapter 2, Section 6, p. 118,^[10]

     […] every thing in the world is indifferent but sin.

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Boston: Ticknor, Reed & Fields, p. 162,^[11]

     His gestures, his gait, his grizzled beard, his slightest and most indifferent acts, the very fashion of his garments, were odious in the clergyman’s sight;

   • 1956, Mary Renault, The Last of the Wine, New York: Modern Library, Chapter 28, p. 374,^[12]

     We talked of indifferent things, and watched the juggler who was tossing torches in the Stadium, for twilight was falling.

6. (mechanics) Being in the state of neutral equilibrium.
7. (obsolete) Not different, matching.
   • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, Scene 1,^[13]

     […] let their heads be sleekly comb’d, their blue coats brush’d and their garters of an indifferent knit

Related terms

• indifference
• indifferency (obsolete)
• indifferentism
• indifferently

Translations

Noun

indifferent (plural indifferents)

1. A person who is indifferent or apathetic.

Adverb

indifferent

1. (obsolete) To some extent, in some degree (intermediate between very and not at all); moderately, tolerably, fairly.

Usage notes

• Now obsolete, but very common c. 1600-1730.

References

• John A. Simpson and Edward S. C. Weiner, editors (1989) , “indifferent”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, ?ISBN

Middle French

Adjective

indifferent m (feminine singular indifferente, masculine plural indifferents, feminine plural indifferentes)

1. indifferent; apathetic