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残酷 (ざんこく, zankoku) Japanese meaning: cruel | Kotomora
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彼かれ は 残ざん 酷こく な 言こと 葉ば で 相あい 手て を 傷きず つけ た 。
He hurt the other person with cruel words.
The movie contains many brutal scenes.
Usage patterns 〈 人ひと 〉 に 残ざん 酷こく な 仕し 打う ちをする to treat someone cruelly
He treated animals cruelly.
残ざん 酷こく な 運うん 命めい a cruel fate
A cruel fate awaited the girl.
残ざん 酷こく な 現げん 実じつ a harsh/cruel reality
We were shown the cruel reality of war through the footage.
〈 人ひと 〉 に 残ざん 酷こく なことを 言い う to say cruel things to someone
I ended up saying cruel things to her.
Kanji 残 remainder, leftover, balance 酷 cruel, severe, atrocious 惨 wretched, disaster, cruelty Related words· 14 非情 describes a cold, detached lack of feeling, whereas 残酷 emphasizes actively causing suffering through harsh treatment.
無慈悲 stresses a lack of compassion or mercy as a moral failing, while 残酷 focuses on the harshness of the act itself.
冷酷 highlights a cold, calculating cruelty in personality or manner, while 残酷 can describe any brutal act, event, or fate.
残酷 highlights cruelty and brutality in an act, while 非道 stresses its moral wrongness and lack of humanity.
Show 10 more 残酷 is a more formal, literary word for cruelty or brutality, while ひどい is the everyday word covering the same idea plus many other negative senses.
残酷 is the everyday word for cruel or heartless acts, while 残虐 is stronger and typically describes extreme, savage brutality in formal or news contexts.
残酷 is the more common, direct word for cruel or brutal behavior, while 無残 emphasizes the pitiful, merciless outcome rather than the inherent cruelty.
残酷 is a broader, more common word for cruel or brutal behavior, while サディスティック specifically implies taking pleasure in causing pain.
Don't confuse with 残虐 and 残酷 share the kanji 残 and both mean cruel, but 残虐 is stronger, usually describing extreme violence or atrocities, while 残酷 covers a broader range of harsh or pitiless situations.
残酷 shares the kanji 残 with 残念 but means 'cruel', not 'regrettable', so learners should not confuse the two.
Written forms 残ざん 酷こく Usage 98%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency in news and general use.
惨ざん 酷こく Usage 1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
ざんこく Usage 1%
ザンコク Usage <1%
Etymology Compound of 残 (cruel, harsh) and 酷 (severe, cruel). The kanji combination directly conveys the meaning of extreme cruelty.
残酷 is the more common, general word for 'cruel' or 'heartless', while 残忍 stresses a cold, calculated brutality.
残酷 focuses narrowly on cruelty and inflicting suffering, whereas 野蛮 more broadly covers primitiveness and lack of culture as well.
残酷 focuses on cruelty and brutality with a moral judgment, whereas 過酷 can describe harshness without necessarily implying moral wrong.
残酷 means 'cruel' or 'brutal', suggesting harsher, often physically or emotionally severe cruelty, whereas 意地悪 is milder and more everyday, closer to 'mean' or 'nasty'.
残酷 explicitly means cruel or brutal, especially toward people or animals, and is stronger and more direct than the milder, more general 酷.
残酷 is a common, everyday word for cruelty; 暴虐 is stronger and often implies systematic oppression or large-scale violence.
残ざん
刻こく
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
惨ざん 刻こく
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
