Cruel
Necessary
Necessary adjective - Forcing one's compliance or participation by or as if by law.
Cruel and necessary are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Cruel" instead an adjective "Necessary".
Nearby Words: necessity, necessarily
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
- Yasukawa at first showed overly cruel tendencies towards her stablemates but after settling into a managerial role both were willing to wait hand and foot on there underlings if necessary.
Source: Benevolent Boss -
While his buddy Masao leaps to decisions driven by raw emotion, Kei Nanjo would rather do what is necessary regardless of how cruel it may appear.
Source: The Kirk -
While this may seem cruel, the Virtual Ghosts are shown to be very conservative (as anyone who has lived long enough gets) and try to maintain the status quo by any means necessary.
Source: Virtual Ghost
Cite this Source
Necessary and Cruel. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 08, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/necessary
Cruel & Necessary. N.p., 2016. Web. 08 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/necessary>.
Necessary or Cruel. 2016. Accessed August 08, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/necessary.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "cruel" and "necessary" have occurred on timeline