FromFrenchsardonique, fromLatinsardonius,[1] fromAncient Greekσαρδόνιος(sardónios), alternative form ofσαρδάνιος(sardánios,“bitter or scornful laughter”), which is often cited as deriving from the Sardinian plant (Ranunculus sardous or possiblyOenanthe crocata), known as eitherσαρδάνη(sardánē) orσαρδόνιον(sardónion). When eaten, it would cause the eater's face to contort in a look resembling scorn (generally followed by death).[2] It might also be related toσαίρω(saírō,“I grin”). The related termsardoin, as gentilic, is ultimately derived fromσάρδιον(sárdion) fromΣάρδεις(Sárdeis), referring toSardis in Lydia orSart in Manisa, Turkey; other sources referenceSardonian fromΣαρδόνιος(Sardónios,“from Sardinia”).
sardonic (comparativemoresardonic,superlativemostsardonic)
- Scornfullymocking orcynical.
- Synonyms:sneering,satirical
He distances himself from people with his nasty,sardonic laughter.
1685,Henry Wotton, “[A Deſcription of the Countrys Recreations.] Poems Found among the Papers of Sir Henry Wotton”, inReliquiæ Wottonianæ, or, A collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; […] , Fourth edition, London: […] B[enjamin] Tooke, […] and T[homas] Sawbridge […] ,→OCLC,pages390–391:[Q]Uivering fears, Heart-tearing cares, / Anxious ſighs, Untimely tears, / Fly, fly to the Courts; / Fly to fond worldings ſports, / Where ſtrain’dSardonick ſmiles are cloſing ſtill, / And grief is forc’d to laugh againſt her will; / Where mirth’s but mummery, / And ſorrows only real be.
1796,Edmund Burke, “Letter I. On the Overtures of Peace.”, inTwo Letters Addressed to a Member of the Present Parliament on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France, London: […] F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], published20 October 1796,→OCLC,page34:At the opening of thoſe doors, what a ſight it muſt be to behold the plenipotentiaries of royal impotence, in the precedency which they will intrigue to obtain, and which will be granted to them according to the ſeniority of their degradation, ſneaking into the Regicide preſence, and with the reliques of the ſmile which they had dreſſed up, for the levee of their maſters, ſlill flickering on their curled lips, preſenting the faded remains of their courtly graces, to meet the ſcornful, ferocious,ſardonic grin of a bloody ruffian, who, whilſt he is receiving their homage, is meaſuring them with his eye, and fitting to their ſize the ſlider of his Guillotine!
1904 August,A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter”, inThe Return of Sherlock Holmes, New York, N.Y.:McClure, Phillips & Co., published February 1905,→OCLC,page309:The carriage stopped, the doctor alighted, walked swiftly back to where I had also halted, and told me in an excellentsardonic fashion that he feared the road was narrow, and that he hoped his carriage did not impede the passage of my bicycle.
- Disdainfully orironicallyhumorous.
- Synonym:sarcastic
1979, Carl Deroux, editor,Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History[Collection Latomus; 164], volume 1, Brussels: Latomus,→OCLC, page111:Another manifestation, significantly reaching its apogee in the midst of Antonine virtues, was the growing popularity of adoxographical exercises. Mock panegyrics were dashed off, not just bysardonic intellectuals such asLucian, but also by trained courtiers and polished encomiasts of the stamp of[Marcus Cornelius] Fronto.
scornfully mocking
- Bulgarian:язвителен (bg)(jazvitelen)
- Catalan:sardònic
- Czech:sardonický
- Dutch:sardonisch (nl)
- Finnish:katkeranivallinen,ivallinen (fi),häijy (fi),sardoninen (fi)
- French:sardonique (fr)
- German:hämisch (de),mokant (de)
- Greek:σαρδόνιος (el)(sardónios)
- Italian:sardonico (it),sarcastico (it),sprezzante (it)
- Norwegian:bitter (no)
- Bokmål:sardonisk
- Persian:زهرخنده (fa)(zahrxande)
- Polish:sardoniczny (pl)
- Portuguese:sardónico (pt)(Portugal),sardônico (pt)(Brazil)
- Russian:сардони́ческий (ru)(sardoníčeskij)
- Slovene:sardóničen
- Spanish:sardónico (es)
- Swedish:bitter (sv),sardonisk (sv)
- Turkish:hakaret dolu,horlayıcı,küçümseyen,küçümseyici (tr),acı (tr)
- Ukrainian:сардоні́чний(sardoníčnyj)
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Borrowed fromFrenchsardonique, fromLatinsardonicus.
sardonic m orn (feminine singularsardonică,masculine pluralsardonici,feminine and neuter pluralsardonice)
- sardonic
Sardonicism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia