cyn·i·cal

(sĭn′ĭ-kəl)

adj.

1. Believing or showing the belief that people are motivated chiefly by base or selfish concerns; skeptical of the motives of others: a cynical dismissal of the politician's promise to reform the campaign finance system.

2. Selfishly or callously calculating: showed a cynical disregard for the safety of his troops in his efforts to advance his reputation.

3. Negative or pessimistic, as from world-weariness: a cynical view of the average voter's intelligence.

4. Expressing jaded or scornful skepticism or negativity: cynical laughter.

cyn′i·cal·ly adv.

cyn′i·cal·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

cynical

(ˈsɪnɪkəl)

adj

1. distrustful or contemptuous of virtue, esp selflessness in others; believing the worst of others, esp that all acts are selfish

2. sarcastic; mocking

3. showing contempt for accepted standards of behaviour, esp of honesty or morality: the politician betrayed his promises in a cynical way.

ˈcynically adv

ˈcynicalness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cyn•i•cal

(ˈsɪn ɪ kəl)

adj.

1. distrusting or disparaging the motives or sincerity of others.

2. showing contempt for accepted standards of honesty or morality, esp. by actions that exploit the scruples of others.

3. bitterly or sneeringly distrustful, contemptuous, or pessimistic.

4. (cap.) cynic.

[1580–90]

cyn′i•cal•ly, adv.

cyn′i•cal•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

cynical - believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others

misanthropic, misanthropical

distrustful - having or showing distrust; "a man of distrustful nature"; "my experience...in other fields of law has made me distrustful of rules of thumb generally"- B.N.Cardozo; "vigilant and distrustful superintendence"- Thomas Jefferson

cynical

adjective

1. sceptical, mocking, ironic, sneering, pessimistic, scoffing, contemptuous, sarcastic, sardonic, scornful, distrustful, derisive, misanthropic He has a very cynical view of the world.
sceptical trusting, green, optimistic, hopeful, unsuspecting, gullible, credulous, trustful, unsceptical

2. unbelieving, sceptical, disillusioned, pessimistic, disbelieving, mistrustful My experiences have made me cynical about relationships.
unbelieving optimistic, hopeful

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

cynical

adjective

Marked by or displaying contemptuous mockery of the motives or virtues of others:

cynic, ironic, ironical, sardonic, wry.

Translations

ساخِر، تَهَكُّمـي

cynický

kynisk

ciničan

háîskur, bituryrtur, kÿnískur

cinico

cinikasciniškaiciniškascinizmas

cinisks

cynický

cynical

[ˈsɪnɪkəl] ADJ → cínico

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

cynical

[ˈsɪnɪk^əl] adj

[person] → cynique; [view, attitude] → cynique

[attempt, ploy, manipulation] → cynique

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

cynical

adj

→ zynisch; he was very cynical about it → er äußerte sich sehr zynisch dazu

Cynical (Philos) → kynisch, zynisch

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

cynical

[ˈsɪnɪk/əl] adj → cinico/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

cynical

(ˈsinikəl) adjective

inclined to believe the worst, especially about people. a cynical attitude.

ˈcynically adverb

ˈcynic noun

a person who believes the worst about everyone. He is a cynic – he thinks no-one is really unselfish.

ˈcynicism (-sizəm) noun

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

His smile impressed me as cynical and a trifle contemptuous.

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She pictured him tall, slim, cynical; with eye-glasses, and his hands in his pockets; and she did not like him.

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And, trembling, pale, and gasping for breath, he pointed to the gibbet at the other side of the yard, with the cynical inscription surmounting it.

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During the night-watches some cynical old sailors will crawl into them and coil themselves away there for a nap.

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I wish, though, that Cecil had not turned so cynical about women.

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Many dear old ladies who daily look at tiny shoes lying in lavender-scented drawers, and weep as they think of the tiny feet whose toddling march is done, and sweet-faced young ones who place each night beneath their pillow some lock that once curled on a boyish head that the salt waves have kissed to death, will call me a nasty cynical brute and say I'm talking nonsense; but I believe, nevertheless, that if they will ask themselves truthfully whether they find it unpleasant to dwell thus on their sorrow, they will be compelled to answer "No." Tears are as sweet as laughter to some natures.

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He must have been immensely in advance of most of the thinking and feeling of his day, for people then used to accuse his sentimental pessimism of cynical qualities which we could hardly find in it now.

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In those cynical words there was indeed a grain of truth.

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You put, however, a kind of reckless confidence into your pleasure which at times, I confess, has seemed to me--shall I say it?--almost cynical. Your way at any rate is not my way, and it is unwise that we should attempt any longer to pull together.

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"A learned man in a cynical and torn dress holding an open book in his hand."

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Cynical things he had uttered to himself about her; but no man can be always a cynic and live; and he withdrew them.

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The bank had continued to take in money for a whole day after its failure was inevitable; and as many of its clients belonged to one or another of the ruling clans, Beaufort's duplicity seemed doubly cynical. If Mrs.

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