cruel and unusual
Sadistic and extreme
Cruel and unusual describes punishment that is excessively harsh, degrading, or disproportionate to the offense.
The phrase comes from the Eighth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, which prohibits such penalties.
Courts have applied it to torture, certain prison conditions, and some death penalty cases.
Outside legal contexts, the phrase is often used hyperbolically: Waiting in that line was cruel and unusual punishment.
- punishmentPenalty for an offense
- capital punishmentExecution by legal authority
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
- the rackBody-stretching torture apparatus
- iron maidenSpike-lined torture cabinet
drawn and quartered · inhumane · barbaric · savage · brutal · merciless · sadistic · harsh · medieval · flogging · chain gang · execution · death row · prison · bill of rights · human rights · excessive · degrading
- ConstitutionBill of Rights, preamble, articles, U.S. Constitution, Article I
- legal doctrinescollateral estoppel, strict scrutiny, equal protection, sovereign immunity, absolute immunity
- constitutionsbill of rights, constitutional amendment, constitutional reform, clause, clauses
cruel and unusualhumane
Marked by kindness
kind · merciful · compassionate · gentle · benevolent
cruel and unusualhumane
Marked by kindness
constitutional · proportionate · just · fair · lawful
cruel, unusual, cruelly, cruelty, crueler, cruelest, usual, usually, unusually