cruel、brutal、inhuman、savage、barbarous、fierce与ruthless这些形容词都有“残忍的、野蛮的”之意。
cruel : 一般用词，指行动或态度的残忍。
- Don't tease him about his weight - it's cruel.
别拿他的体重开玩笑——这样太刻薄了。 - Children can be very cruel to each other.
小孩相互之间会很残忍。
brutal : 指极端的残忍，强调无情或缺乏同情心，含不择手段的意味。
- a brutal dictator
残暴的独裁者 - He had presided over a brutal regime in which thousands of people had "disappeared".
在他残暴的统治下，成千上万的人“失踪”了。
inhuman : 着重缺乏同情心、仁爱等人类特有的良好的品质。
- Prisoners of war were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.
战俘们受到了非人的待遇和侮辱。 - inhuman and degrading treatment
不人道的羞辱性对待
savage : 指缺乏文明人应有的教养，尤指在动怒或冲动时表现出的粗野蛮横，含野蛮意味。
- 这里的野蛮风俗历来如此。
The savage custom here has always been so. - 那个歹徒所做的是对一个毫无自卫能力的年轻女孩的野蛮袭击。
What the bandit did was a savage attack on a defenceless young girl.
（拓展学习：小词详解 | savage）
barbarous : 专指只有原始或未开化的人才会有的残忍行为。
- His murder was an outrageous and barbarous act.
对他的谋杀是骇人听闻的野蛮行径。 - How can they forgive such barbarous behaviour?
他们怎么能原谅这样的野蛮行为？
fierce : 指天性凶恶，令人害怕。
- a fierce attack/battle
猛烈的进攻／激烈的战斗 - Two men were shot during fierce fighting last weekend.
上周末的激战中两人遭受枪击。
ruthless与cruel同义。强调为达到目的，对别人的痛苦毫无怜悯之心。
- ruthless ambition
冷酷无情的野心 - Some people believe that to succeed in this world you have to be ruthless.
有些人认为，在这个世界上要想成功必须冷酷无情。
