different between wild vs cruel

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?ld, IPA^(key): /wa?ld/
• Rhymes: -a?ld

Etymology 1

From Middle English wild, wilde, from Old English wilde, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþ?, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“hair, wool, grass, ear (of corn), forest”).

Adjective

wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildest)

1. Untamed; not domesticated; specifically, in an unbroken line of undomesticated animals (as opposed to feral, referring to undomesticated animals whose ancestors were domesticated).

   Antonym: tame

2. From or relating to wild creatures.

4. Unrestrained or uninhibited.

5. Raucous, unruly, or licentious.

6. (electrical) Of unregulated and varying frequency.

7. Visibly and overtly anxious; frantic.

8. Furious; very angry.
9. Disheveled, tangled, or untidy.

10. Enthusiastic.

11. Inaccurate.

12. Exposed to the wind and sea; unsheltered.

13. (nautical) Hard to steer; said of a vessel.
14. (mathematics, of a knot) Not capable of being represented as a finite closed polygonal chain.

    Antonym: tame

15. (slang) Amazing, awesome, unbelievable.

16. Able to stand in for others, e.g. a card in games, or a text character in computer pattern matching.
    • 2009, Leonardo Vanneschi, Steven Gustafson, Alberto Moraglio, Genetic Programming: 12th European Conference

      We define a pattern as a valid GP subtree that might contain wild characters [i.e. wildcards] in any of its nodes.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

wild (comparative more wild, superlative most wild)

1. Inaccurately; not on target.

Noun

wild (plural wilds)

1. The undomesticated state of a wild animal

2. (chiefly in the plural) a wilderness
   • 1730–1774, Oliver Goldsmith, Introductory to Switzerland

     Thus every good his native wilds impart
     Imprints the patriot passion on his heart;
     And e’en those ills that round his mansion rise
     Enhance the bliss his scanty funds supplies.

Verb

wild (third-person singular simple present wilds, present participle wilding, simple past and past participle wilded)

1. (intransitive, slang) To commit random acts of assault, robbery, and rape in an urban setting, especially as a gang.
   • 1989, David E. Pitt, Jogger's Attackers Terrorized at Least 9 in 2 Hours, New York Times (April 22, 1989), page 1:

     ...Chief of Detectives Robert Colangelo, who said the attacks appeared unrelated to money, race, drugs, or alcohol, said that some of the 20 youths brought in for questioning has told investigators that the crime spree was the product of a pastime called "wilding".
     "It's not a term that we in the police had heard before," the chief said, noting that the police were unaware of any similar incident in the park recently. "They just said, 'We were going wilding.' In my mind at this point, it implies that they were going to raise hell."...

   • 1999, Busta Rhymes (Trevor Taheim Smith, Jr.), Iz They Wildin Wit Us? (song)

     Now is they wildin with us / And getting rowdy with us.

Etymology 2

Noun

wild (plural wilds)

1. Alternative form of weald

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wilt, from Dutch wild, from Old Dutch *wildi, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?lt/

Adjective

wild (attributive wilde, comparative wilder, superlative wildste)

1. wild

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch wilt, from Old Dutch wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþ?, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??lt/
• Hyphenation: wild
• Rhymes: -?lt
• Homophone: wilt

Adjective

wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildst)

1. wild

Inflection

Derived terms

• wildebras
• wildplassen
• wildplukken
• wildvreemd

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wild

Noun

wild n (uncountable)

1. game (food; animals hunted for meat)
2. wildlife
3. wilderness

Derived terms

• jachtwild
• wildwissel

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wild

Anagrams

• lidw.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wilde, from Old High German wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþ?. Compare Dutch wild, English wild, Danish vild.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /v?lt/

Adjective

wild (comparative wilder, superlative am wildesten)

1. wild
2. (obsolete) strange

   Synonym: fremd

Declension

Derived terms

• halb so wild
• wilde Ehe
• wildern
• wildfremd
• Wildheit

Related terms

• Wildente, Wildfang, Wildgans, Wildhengst, Wildlachs, Wildschwein

Further reading

• “wild” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “wild” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• “wild” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “wild” in Duden online

Hunsrik

Etymology

From Central Franconian weld

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vilt/

Adjective

wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildest)

1. wild

Declension

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German wilde, from Old Saxon wildi, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþ?, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz.

Compare English, Dutch and German wild, West Frisian wyld, Danish vild.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?lt/

Adjective

wild (comparative willer, superlative willst)

1. wild

Declension

Maltese

Alternative forms

• weld

Etymology

From Arabic ?????? (walad).

Pronunciation

Noun

wild m (plural ulied)

1. offspring

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.