{
    "term": "cruel",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "having a desire to cause physical or mental pain and make somebody suffer",
            "sensetop": "cruel to somebody/something",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He was known to be a cruel dictator."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I can't stand people who are cruel to animals.",
                    "contextForm": "cruel to somebody/something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Her eyes were cruel and hard."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Sometimes you have to **be cruel to be kind** *(= make somebody suffer because it will be good for them later)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "an extremely cruel regime"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "seem", "sound"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"],
                "preposition": ["to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "causing physical or mental pain and making somebody suffer",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a cruel joke/hoax"
                },
                {
                    "text": "cruel punishment"
                },
                {
                    "text": "It was a **cruel irony** that he, being gravely ill, would survive his family."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It would be a **cruel twist of fate** if he escaped only to starve to death once outside."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Her father's death was a **cruel blow**."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Personal qualities"],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "seem", "sound"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"],
                "preposition": ["to"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "a category of very severe punishment that is banned under US law",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "This important case confronts the issue of what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Detainees are subjected to malnutrition, forced labor, and to other cruel and unusual punishments."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈkruːəl/",
                "audio": "cr/cruel/cruel__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈkruːəl/",
                "audio": "cr/cruel/cruel__us_1_rr.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Middle English: via Old French from Latin crudelis, related to crudus ‘raw, rough’."
}