unkindliness

noun

Definition of unkindlinessnext
as in cruelty

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unkindliness
  1. cruelty
  2. inhumanity
  3. savagery
  4. heartlessness
  5. barbarity
  6. brutishness
  7. callousness
  8. savageness
Noun
  • Law enforcement sources involved in the case told WJZ that the horse was being cared for by someone who is facing animal cruelty and abandonment charges in an unrelated case in West Virginia.
    — Tara Lynch, CBS News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • The real problem is the culture, and when culture rewards cruelty, the damage spreads.
    — Jodi Bondi Norgaard, Chicago Tribune, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of cruelty
Noun
  • This is pure hatred, and condemning this kind of inhumanity shouldn’t be hard.
    — Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 3 June 2026
  • Their willingness to film their inhumanity echoed the Nazis of the Third Reich, who likewise filmed their mass atrocities.
    — Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 14 May 2026
Definition of inhumanity
Noun
  • This savagery can last up to a week before the mature larvae fall to the ground.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 9 June 2026
  • While our money would be on The Last Son of Krypton in a main card matchup, Lobo fights dirty with a level of primal savagery that just might put the Big Blue Boy Scout and his cousin down for a few rounds.
    — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 6 June 2026
Definition of savagery
Noun
  • These young graduates start out naive about the heartlessness of the corporate world and harbor illusory hopes for success in unforgiving professions.
    — George Packer, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2026
  • The lives of the two children in the story, aged fourteen and four, are portrayed as being as fleeting as the fireflies, and the story is an unsentimental and unflinching account with moments of both tenderness and heartlessness.
    — Ginny Tapley Takemori September 4, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2025
Definition of heartlessness
Noun
  • The report comes as the RSF lays siege to El Obeid, where analysts say similar barbarity is imminent.
    — Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 9 July 2026
  • The barbarity of the institution, meanwhile, is self-evident—but rarely does an author present its abuses so powerfully and vividly.
    — The Atlantic, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
Definition of barbarity
Noun
  • Generations of agents, therefore, have had to walk a line between bookishness and brutishness.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 24 Mar. 2026
  • But the brutishness has merely relocated, to places far more dangerous.
    — Ian Buruma, New Yorker, 23 Feb. 2026
Definition of brutishness
Noun
  • Rather, the crisis of the Lincoln has illuminated a pattern of callousness and cruelty toward military personnel, people who have sworn an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
    — Andrea N. Goldstein, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Simon’s self-righteous callousness warranted a rebuke, but the rebuke provided Simon the opportunity to see the situation more clearly, to repent, and to love more going forward.
    — Eric Bashor, Christian Science Monitor, 13 July 2026
Definition of callousness
Noun
  • Government should tame the savageness of man and make life in this world more gentle, not crueler.
    — Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 May 2026
Definition of savageness
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

unkind
unkindliness
unkindly
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Unkindliness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unkindliness. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All