cruelly

English

Etymology

From Middle English cruelly; equivalent to cruel +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɹuːəli/, /ˈkɹuːli/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːli
• Hyphenation: cru‧el‧ly

Adverb

cruelly (comparative more cruelly, superlative most cruelly)

1. In a cruel manner; with cruelty.
   • 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “The Historie of Englande”, in The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC, page 26, columns 1–2:

     In the meane time it chaunced, that Marcus Papyrius ſtroke one of the Galles on the heade with his ſtaffe, because he preſumed to ſtroke his bearde: with whiche iniurie the Gaulle beeing prouoked, ſlue Papyrius (as he ſate) with hys ſworde, and therewith the ſlaughter being begun with one, all the reſidue of thoſe auncient fatherly men as they ſat in theyr Chayres were ſlaine and cruelly murthered.

   • 2017 August 24, Jay Inslee, “American dreams of young people will be cruelly ripped away”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Unfortunately, if certain national leaders have their way and repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, the American dreams of hundreds of thousands of young people will be cruelly ripped away.

2. (rare) To a degree that is cruel.
   • 1862, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret:

     Robert Audley chafed cruelly at this delay. Half a dozen vessels might sail for Australia while he roamed up and down the long platform, tumbling over trucks and porters, and swearing at his ill-luck.

Translations

in a cruel manner

• Catalan: cruelment (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 殘忍地 / 残忍地 (zh) (cánrěn de), 無情地 / 无情地 (zh) (wúqíng de), 殘酷地 / 残酷地 (zh) (cánkù de)

• Finnish: raa’asti, julmasti (fi)
• French: cruellement (fr)
• Galician: cruelmente
• German: grausam (de)
• Hungarian: kegyetlenül (hu)
• Italian: crudelmente (it)
• Latin: crūdēliter
• Middle English: cruelly
• Old English: wælhrēowlīċe
• Old Galician-Portuguese: cruamente
• Polish: okrutnie (pl), bezwzględnie (pl)
• Portuguese: cruelmente (pt)
• Russian: жесто́ко (ru) (žestóko)
• Spanish: sangrientamente (es), cruelmente (es)

Middle English

Alternative forms

• cruwelly, cruely, crewelly, cruelliche, crueli

Etymology

From cruel +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkriu̯ɛliː/, /ˈkriu̯əliː/, /ˈkriu̯ɛliːtʃ(ə)/

Adverb

cruelly

1. Ruthlessly, cruelly; in a cruel or sadistic way.
2. Savagely, viciously; in a way displaying ferocity.
3. (rare) Deleteriously, injurious; conducive to suffering.
4. (rare) Strictly, unforgivingly, meanly, harshly.

Descendants

• English: cruelly
• Scots: cruelly

References

• “crūellī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 12 September 2018.