Cynical
['sɪnɪk(ə)l] or ['sɪnɪkl]
Definition
(adj.) believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others .
Edited by Guthrie--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Having the qualities of a surly dog; snarling; captious; currish.
(a.) Pertaining to the Dog Star; as, the cynic, or Sothic, year; cynic cycle.
(a.) Belonging to the sect of philosophers called cynics; having the qualities of a cynic; pertaining to, or resembling, the doctrines of the cynics.
(a.) Given to sneering at rectitude and the conduct of life by moral principles; disbelieving in the reality of any human purposes which are not suggested or directed by self-interest or self-indulgence; as, a cynical man who scoffs at pretensions of integrity; characterized by such opinions; as, cynical views of human nature.
Editor: Orville
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. Carping, censorious, satirical, sarcastic, captious, snarling, snappish, waspish, pettish, petulant, fretful, peevish, touchy, testy, crusty, churlish, crabbed, cross, morose, froward, surly, ill-tempered, ill-natured.
Typist: Ted
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Sarcastic, snarling, snappish, sneering, cross-grained, currish, carping
ANT:Genial, lenient, complaisant, urbane
Editor: Orville
Examples
- The lad only answered by turning his cynical young face, half-arch, half-truculent, towards the paternal chair. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- This is cynical. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It may be interesting to tell a little of this intelligent and cynical man. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Their sole comment on what they saw was a cynical smile flashed into each other's stern eyes. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- It was the one thing he was never cynical about. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Very well, said the Demarch, with a cynical smile, which but ill became his pallid face; I will put you to the teSt Call in every one. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Karkov was not cynical about those times either when he talked. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- She felt already purely cynical. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- That had been the first big disillusion to him a few months back and he had started to be cynical to himself about it. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Some cynical Frenchman has said that there are two parties to a love-transaction: the one who loves and the other who condescends to be so treated. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Don't get cynical. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- We are caught between the ignorant and the cynical. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The cynical indifference of legislatures and the hypocrisy of the dominant parties were all that politics had to offer. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Cross the threshold, and you found her completely, completely cynical about the social world and its advantages. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Mr. Helstone pushed out his cynical lip, wrinkled his brown forehead, and gave an inarticulate grunt. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- This cynical declaration is at least a recognition that the bond of union is not merely one of coercive force. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Then the reaction from this view as a cynical depreciation of human nature leads to the view that men who act nobly act with no interest at all. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Such incidents tend to justify Edison in his rather cynical remark that he has always been able to improve machinery much quicker than men. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
Editor: Orville