酷 has two very different meanings: (1) 'cool/stylish' — borrowed from English 'cool,' popular since the 1990s, (2) 'cruel/harsh' — the original meaning, as in 残酷 (cánkù, cruel) or 酷刑 (kùxíng, torture). Context makes it clear.
usage
酷 sounds like English 'cool' — this isn't a coincidence. It was chosen as the Chinese translation precisely because of the phonetic similarity.
