be cruel to be kind (English, verb)
expansion: be cruel to be kind (third-person singular simple present is cruel to be kind, present participle being cruel to be kind, simple past was cruel to be kind, past participle been cruel to be kind)
Senses:
glosses: To act cruelly in order to achieve a positive outcome in the future.
Forms:
form: is cruel to be kind
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: being cruel to be kind
tags: participle
present
form: was cruel to be kind
tags: past
form: been cruel to be kind
tags: participle
past