Cruel
Cruel adjective - Having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others.
Usage example: cruel and unusual punishments are forbidden by the U.S. Constitution
Vicious is a synonym for cruel in brutal topic. In some cases you can use "Vicious" instead an adjective "Cruel", when it comes to topics like help, kind, ferocious, aggressive. popular alternative
Vicious
Vicious adjective - Having or showing the desire to inflict severe pain and suffering on others.
Usage example: she made a vicious effort to destroy the lives of the people who had wronged her
Cruel is a synonym for vicious in help topic. You can use "Cruel" instead an adjective "Vicious", if it concerns topics such as kind, corrupt, brutal, nasty. popular alternative
Nearby Word: viciously
Mutual synonyms
Both words in one sentence
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Spoof Aesop: The ultimate result of much of Grimm's interference is such gems like "you can't get rid of cruelty in your own generation, so why bother" and "Felines are cruel and vicious creatures who only help others out of the knowledge that they'll come off better in the long term".
- Howard is a pretty nice guy who means well and only wants to help — however, unfortunately for him and those around him, he is the perpetual victim of a cruel and vicious fate that appears determined to actively torment and humiliate him at every opportunity.
- Enrique in Skies of Arcadia spends much of his screen time complaining to his mother the Empress about how vicious and cruel the Armada is.
Source: Father, I Don't Want To Fight
Cite this Source
Vicious and Cruel. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/vicious
Cruel & Vicious. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/vicious>.
Vicious or Cruel. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/cruel/vicious.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "cruel" and "vicious" have occurred on timeline