Cruelty

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. The attribute or quality of being cruel; a disposition to give unnecessary pain or suffering to others; inhumanity; barbarity. Pierced through the heart with your stern cruelty. Shak.

2. A cruel and barbarous deed; inhuman treatment; the act of willfully causing unnecessary pain. Cruelties worthy of the dungeons of the Inquisition. Macualay.