Originated 1542, fromClassical Latincynicus(“Cynic/cynic”,adjective) +-al.[1] Bysurface analysis,cynic +-al. In reference to dogs, with allusion to the ultimate etymology (Ancient Greekκυνικός(kunikós,“doglike”)).[1]
cynical (comparativemorecynical,superlativemostcynical)
- Of or relating to the belief that human actions aremotivated only or primarily bybasedesires orselfishness.
1755, Samuel Johnson,To the Earl of Chesterfield:I hope it is no verycynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received.
- Skeptical of theintegrity,sincerity, or motives of others.
- Bitterly orjadedlydistrustful orcontemptuous;mocking.
1943 November –1944 February (date written; published1945 August 17),George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair],Animal Farm […], London:Secker & Warburg, publishedMay 1962,→OCLC:He seldom talked, and when he did, it was usually to make somecynical remark-for instance, he would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off, but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies.
- Showingcontempt for acceptedmoralstandards by one's actions.
1907 August,Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter X, inThe Younger Set, New York, N.Y.:D. Appleton & Company,→OCLC:When he, at Neergard'scynical suggestion, had consented to exploit his own club[…]and had consented to resign from it to do so, he had every reason to believe that Neergard meant to either mulct them heavily or buy them out. In either case, having been useful to Neergard, his profits from the transaction would have been considerable.
- (medicine, rare) Like the actions of asnarlingdog, especially in reference tofacial nerve paralysis.
1818, Matthieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila,A Treatise on Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal Poisons, Considered as to their Relations with Physiology, Pathology, and Medical Jurisprudence:Towards noon, he experienced convulsive movements; the extremities became stiff, the pulse extremely small, and he died during an attack ofcynical spasm.
1857,New Orleans Medical News and Hospital Gazette - Volume 3, page278:On the contrary, in woman, thecynical spasm, though felt with as much, or even more violence than the other sex, is not followed with the same deleterious effects, and may be repeated much oftener without any unfavorable consequences.
1986, Giuseppe Roccatagliata,A History of Ancient Psychiatry, page125:Demetrius Attalicus studied the symptomatologies due to strictura cerebri, characterized by acynical spasm of the facial nerve.
2009, Hilary Evans, Robert E. Bartholomew,Outbreak!: The Encyclopedia of Extraordinary Social Behavior,→ISBN:Something of the same sort happened at Hensberg, Germany, where the nuns were afflicted and committed the sin they called “the silent sin.” In their ecstasies, their convulsions were very violent and interspersed with “cynical movements of the pelvis.”
of or relating to the belief that human actions are motivated by base desires or selfishness
Bitterly or jadedly distrustful or contemptuous; mocking
Showing contempt for accepted moral standards by one's actions
- “cynical”, inThe American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.:Houghton Mifflin,2000,→ISBN.
- “cynical”, inDictionary.com Unabridged,Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- "cynical" inWordNet 2.0, Princeton University, 2003.
- “cynical”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, launched 2000.