cynic
/ˈsɪnɪk/
cynic noun: a person whose outlook is scornfully negative.
Noun (1)
cynic (plural cynics)
- A person whose outlook is scornfully negative.
- Well, that's one in the eye for the nay-sayers, the doubters, the cynics and assorted tosspots what make up the media and that.2000 June 13, Darren Tackle, The Guardian
- "Accept your limitations," I'd warn her. "A lot of these kids are damaged beyond repair." And you know what her response was? That I was cynical. Which hit a nerve, I had to admit. I wasn't a cynic; I was a banged-up realist. You live to middle age, you begin to reckon with life's limits, you know?...2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.2, at p.29-30
- A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness.
Adjective (1)
cynic (comparative more cynic, superlative most cynic)
Noun (2) capitalized: Cynic
Cynic (plural Cynics)
- A member of a sect of Ancient Greek philosophers who believed virtue to be the only good and self-control to be the only means of achieving virtue.
Adjective (2) capitalized: Cynic
Cynic (not comparable)
- Of or relating to the Cynics.
cynic meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
cynic in Hindi
- A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- दोषदर्शी doṣdarśī
cynic in Tamil
- எரிந்து விழுபவர், குறை கூறுபவர், சிடுசிடுப்பான, சிடுமூஞ்சி
cynic in Urdu
- بدخو, خشک مزاج, ترش رو
cynic in Bengali
- নৈরাশ্যবাদী, ছিদ্রান্বেষী
More languagesFewer languages
- cynic in Malayalam
- ദോഷം മാത്രം കാണുന്നവൻ, ലോകനിന്ദകൻ, മനുഷ്യ വിദ്വേഷി
- cynic in Kannada
- ಜರೆಗ, ಸಿನಿಕ, ಯಾವುದರಲ್ಲೂ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯದನ್ನು ಕಾಣದವನು, ಸರ್ವ ತಿರಸ್ಕಾರಿ
- cynic in Persian
- بدگمان bad-gomân
Examples of cynic in a sentence
- I wasn't a cynic; I was a banged-up realist.2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.2, at p.29-30
- The cynic surfaced, reminding him that she'd been accused of trying to spring the baby trap on Brad Comfort.2010, Kathy Lynn Emerson, Family Lies:
Synonyms of cynic
Forms of cynic
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | cynics |
| plural | Cynics |
| alternative form (obsolete) | cynick |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more cynic |
| superlative | most cynic |
Origin of cynic
From Middle English cynike, cynicke, from Middle French cynique, from Latin cynicus, from Ancient Greek κυνικός (kunikós), originally derived from the portico in Athens called Κυνόσαργες (Kunósarges), the earliest home of the Cynic school, later reinterpreted as being derived from κύων (kúōn, “dog”), in a contemptuous allusion to the uncouth and aggressive manners adopted by the members of the school.
First used in English around 1540–50. From Latin Cynicus (cynic philosopher), from Ancient Greek Κυνικός (Kunikós, from κύων (kúōn, “dog”, see Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ) + -ικός (-ikós), literally “doglike, currish”). The word may have first been applied to Cynics because of the nickname κύων (kúōn, “dog”) given to Diogenes of Sinope, the prototypical Cynic.
Words that rhyme with cynic
- clinic
- actinic
- Finnic
- amphetaminic
- caprinic
- Darwinic
- euxinic
- finick
- franklinic
- hematinic
- homoclinic
- isonicotinic
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- Jacobinic
- muscarinic
- nicotinic
- paraffinic
- rabbinic
- Sinic
- vitaminic
- abietinic
- acetylinic
- acetylneuraminic
- achromatinic
- acinic
- aclinic
- acrodynic
- adenylosuccinic
- adiactinic
- agaricinic
- albinic
- alginic
- allodynic
- aluminic
- aminic
- aminolaevulinic
- aminolevulinic
- aminosuccinic
- amyelinic
- anilinic
- anodynic
- anthracyclinic
- antiallodynic
- antidinic
- antihistaminic
- antimuscarinic
- antinicotinic
- antirabbinic
- apobaraminic
- apurinic
- apyrimidinic
- argininosuccinic
- arsinic
- artemisinic
- asparaginic
- atropinic
- auxinic
- axomyelinic
- azinic
- Baltic-Finnic
- Balto-Finnic
Questions about cynic
- What does cynic mean?
- Cynic means a person whose outlook is scornfully negative.
- What is cynic in Hindi?
- Cynic in Hindi is दोषदर्शी (doṣdarśī). See Cynic meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use cynic in a sentence?
- I wasn't a cynic; I was a banged-up realist.
- What part of speech is cynic?
- Cynic can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce cynic?
- Cynic is pronounced /ˈsɪnɪk/.
- What is the plural of cynic?
- The plural of cynic is cynics.
Words near cynic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cynic (page history and authors); Cynic (page history and authors); cynic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cynic (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Cynic (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cynic (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cynic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-cynic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “cynic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cynic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.