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Cruel vs Egregious - What's the difference?

cruel | egregious | Related terms |

Cruel is a related term of egregious.


As adjectives the difference between cruel and egregious

is that cruel is not nice; mean; heartless while egregious is exceptional, conspicuous, outstanding, most usually in a negative fashion.

As a verb cruel

is to spoil or ruin (one's chance of success).

cruel

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Not nice; mean; heartless.
  • The supervisor was very cruel to Josh, as he would always give Josh the hardest, most degrading work he could find.
  • (slang) Cool; awesome; neat.
  • Synonyms

    * brutal * sadistic * vicious

    Antonyms

    * merciful

    Derived terms

    * cruelly

    Verb

  • To spoil or ruin (one's chance of success)
  • Anagrams

    * * ----

    egregious

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Exceptional, conspicuous, outstanding, most usually in a negative fashion.
  • The student has made egregious errors on the examination.
  • * 16thC , ,
  • I cannot cross my arms, or sigh "Ah me," / "Ah me forlorn!" egregious foppery! / I cannot buss thy fill, play with thy hair, / Swearing by Jove, "Thou art most debonnaire!"
  • * c1605 , , Act 2, Scene 3,
  • My lord, you give me most egregious indignity.
  • * 22 March 2012 , Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Games [http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/]
  • When the goal is simply to be as faithful as possible to the material—as if a movie were a marriage, and a rights contract the vow—the best result is a skillful abridgment, one that hits all the important marks without losing anything egregious .
  • * '>citation
  • Outrageously bad; shocking.
  • Usage notes

    The negative meaning arose in the late 16th century, probably originating in sarcasm. Before that, it meant outstanding in a good way. Webster also gives “distinguished” as an archaic form, and notes that its present form often has an unpleasant connotation (e.g., "an egregious error" ). It generally precedes such epithets as “rogue,” “rascal,” "ass," “blunderer”.