different between cruel vs stern
cruel
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)
- Intentionally causing or reveling in pain and suffering; merciless, heartless.
- Synonym: sadistic
- Antonym: merciful
- 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
- 2013, Ranulph Fiennes, Cold: Extreme Adventures at the Lowest Temperatures on Earth
- (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)
- (nonstandard) To a great degree; terribly.
Verb
cruel (third-person singular simple present cruels, present participle cruelling, simple past and past participle cruelled)
- (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.
- 1937, Vance Palmer, Legend for Sanderson, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, p. 226, [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.
- 2007, Stewart Motha, "Reconciliation as Domination" in Scott Veitch (ed.), Law and the Politics of Reconciliation, Routledge, 2016, p. 83, [5]
Etymology 2
Noun
cruel (countable and uncountable, plural cruels)
- 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)
- cruel
Related terms
- crueldá
- crudu
Catalan
Etymology
From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin cr?d?lis.
Adjective
cruel (masculine and feminine plural cruels)
- 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)
- cruel
- 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)
- 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
- Merciless, cruel; revelling in another's pain.
- Deleterious, injurious; conducive to suffering.
- Unbearable, saddening, terrifying.
- Strict, unforgiving, mean; not nice.
- Savage, vicious, dangerous; displaying ferocity.
- Bold, valiant, heroic (in war)
- (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)
- (of a person or creature) cruel (that intentionally causes or revels in pain and suffering)
- Synonym: bárbaro
- (of a situation or occurrence) cruel; harsh; severe
- Synonyms: severo, terrível, pesado
- (of a doubt or question) distressful
- Synonym: terrível
- (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)
- 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.
cruel From the web:
- what cruel means
- what cruelty free means
- what cruel prince character are you
- what cruelty meaning
- what cruel intentions character are you
- what cruel summer about taylor swift
- what cruel world is this nectar of the gods
- what does cruel
stern
English
Alternative forms
- sterne (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: stûrn, IPA(key): /st?n/
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: stûn, IPA(key): /st??n/
- Rhymes: -??(?)n
Etymology 1
From Middle English stern, sterne, sturne, from Old English styrne (“stern, grave, strict, austere, hard, severe, cruel”), from Proto-Germanic *sturnijaz (“angry, astonished, shocked”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“rigid, stiff”). Cognate with Scots stern (“bold, courageous, fierce, resolute”), Old High German storn?n (“to be astonished”), Dutch stuurs (“glum, austere”), Swedish stursk (“insolent”).
Adjective
stern (comparative sterner, superlative sternest)
- Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.
- stern as tutors, and as uncles hard
- Grim and forbidding in appearance.
- 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion
- these barren rocks, your stern inheritance
- 1814, William Wordsworth, The Excursion
Translations
Etymology 2
Most likely from Old Norse stjórn (“control, steering”), related to stýra (“to steer”), from Proto-Germanic *stiurijan?, whence also English steer. Also possibly from Old Frisian stiarne (“rudder”), from the same Germanic root.
Noun
stern (plural sterns)
- (nautical) The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel.
- (figuratively) The post of management or direction.
- The hinder part of anything.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)
- The tail of an animal; now used only of the tail of a dog.
Synonyms
- (of a ship): poop
Antonyms
- bow
Derived terms
- from stem to stern
- sternpost
Translations
See also
- keel
- aft
Etymology 3
From a variant of tern.
Noun
stern (plural sterns)
- A bird, the black tern.
Translations
Anagrams
- 'rents, Ernst, Snert, nerts, rents, snert, terns
Dutch
Etymology
Possibly cognate with Latin sturnus (“starling”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /st?r/
- Rhymes: -?r
Noun
stern m (plural sterns or sternen, diminutive sterntje n)
- tern
Middle English
Noun
stern
- Alternative form of sterne
Mòcheno
Etymology
From Middle High German stërne, stërre, stërn, from Old High German sterno, from Proto-Germanic *stern?, from Proto-Indo-European *h?st?r (“star”). Cognate with German Stern, English star.
Noun
stern m
- star
References
- Anthony R. Rowley, Liacht as de sproch: Grammatica della lingua mòchena Deutsch-Fersentalerisch, TEMI, 2003.
Piedmontese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /st?r?/
Noun
stern m
- breastbone
stern From the web:
- what stern means
- what sterno is safe for roasting marshmallows
- what sterndrive do i have
- what sternum
- what sternum means
- what's sternal rub
- what sternal notch
- what stern light
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