as in ruthlessly
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Recent Examples of cruelly
Active grants have been cruelly rescinded, leaving community theaters, local museums, facing sudden funding gaps and uncertainty over expenses for work already underway.
—
Andrew Weinstein, Time, 24 Oct. 2025
Court filings from the former players allege how Lorch methodically groomed and abused children from some of the nation’s poorest communities, cunningly and cruelly preying on their desperation and love of the city game, on an almost industrial scale.
—Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2025
Maybe this time their rewards can be one of the top three picks in the draft, after the 2025 lottery cruelly landed in favor of much stronger West teams (Dallas, San Antonio) with the top two picks.
—John Hollinger, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
These dreadful stomach and bowel cancers are increasingly afflicting young men who are ever more often being taken from us so cruelly, so early.
—Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
Baseball is a cruelly and wonderfully unpredictable game.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
Ultimately, the court found that prosecutors had not met the burden of proof to show the animals were being neglected or cruelly mistreated.
—Hannah Dreyfus, AZCentral.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Not long ago, such an idea would have seemed dystopian; now, that’s just the everyday gig economy whittled down to its most cruelly efficient form.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
Andrew Weinstein, Time, 24 Oct. 2025
Court filings from the former players allege how Lorch methodically groomed and abused children from some of the nation’s poorest communities, cunningly and cruelly preying on their desperation and love of the city game, on an almost industrial scale.
—Luke Cyphers, Sportico.com, 17 Oct. 2025
Maybe this time their rewards can be one of the top three picks in the draft, after the 2025 lottery cruelly landed in favor of much stronger West teams (Dallas, San Antonio) with the top two picks.
—John Hollinger, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
These dreadful stomach and bowel cancers are increasingly afflicting young men who are ever more often being taken from us so cruelly, so early.
—Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
Baseball is a cruelly and wonderfully unpredictable game.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2025
Ultimately, the court found that prosecutors had not met the burden of proof to show the animals were being neglected or cruelly mistreated.
—Hannah Dreyfus, AZCentral.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Not long ago, such an idea would have seemed dystopian; now, that’s just the everyday gig economy whittled down to its most cruelly efficient form.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cruelly
Adverb
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Marty Supreme stars Chalamet as Marty Mauser, a ping pong player in the 1950s who ruthlessly pursues table tennis greatness.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
23 Oct. 2025
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However, as China ruthlessly pursues independent innovation, domestic substitution of imports has become a policy priority to ensure tech self-sufficiency in critical industries.—
Ni Tao,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Italy’s performance at World Cup 1978 and Euro 1980 on home soil was decent enough, but their sluggish form going into the tournament meant he was mercilessly mocked in the Italian press.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
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Both sides have been fighting mercilessly over Sudanese gold mines.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
15 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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In the process, Joel heartlessly killed some innocent people, including medical professionals.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
26 Aug. 2025
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There is a troubling suggestion of abuse, implying that Jack might have been ill-treated by his mom (and saved by Helen), rather than heartlessly abandoned.—
Tomris Laffly,
Variety,
14 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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The director plays up the humor a lot more than Westlake’s callously cynical prose, for better or worse.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
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But after the Sriracha-maker callously withheld payments from Underwood, the relationship deteriorated and litigation followed.—
Kate Vitasek,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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The federal government shutdown enters its 21st day – headed toward its fourth week – as Democrats and Republicans remain bitterly divided over how to resolve rising health care costs.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
21 Oct. 2025
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Taylor makes a persuasive case for how artists can grow, if incrementally and maybe bitterly, amid so much numbing digital noise.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
Adverb
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Aimee Lou Wood, the British breakout star of The White Lotus season three, said Saturday Night Live has apologized after unkindly parodying her during Saturday night’s show.—
Nicole Fell,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Apr. 2025
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She was always being driven mad by Kubrick, very unkindly.—
Michael Schulman,
The New Yorker,
8 Sep. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Cruelly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cruelly. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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