Cruel
Cruel adjective - Hard to accept or bear especially emotionally.
Usage example: the cruel situation of being orphaned at an early age
Tormenting and cruel are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Tormenting" instead an adjective "Cruel".
Tormenting
Tormenting adjective - Hard to accept or bear especially emotionally.
Usage example: it was a tormenting moment as they helplessly watched the other team score in the final seconds of the game
Cruel and tormenting are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Cruel" instead an adjective "Tormenting".
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
Both words in one sentence
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Donkey Kong was about a mean ape tormenting Mario (then called "Jumpman"), where the second game cast Mario as a cruel owner who caged DK.
Source: Universal-Adaptor Cast -
She's cruel to the girls seemingly For the Evulz and delights in tormenting all of them both physically and psychologically.
Source: Film / Caged -
The Prankster: Ritchie Blackmore was notorious for tormenting his bandmates and everyone around him with rather cruel pranks.
Source: Music / Deep Purple
Cite this Source
Tormenting and Cruel. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 09, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/tormenting
Cruel & Tormenting. N.p., 2016. Web. 09 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/tormenting>.
Tormenting or Cruel. 2016. Accessed August 09, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/tormenting.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "cruel" and "tormenting" have occurred on timeline