cynic
/ˈsɪnɪk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.81 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A person whose outlook is scornfully negative.
noun
A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness.
noun
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.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- ""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? You lace up your sneakers and run it out."
- "The cynic surfaced, reminding him that she'd been accused of trying to spring the baby trap on Brad Comfort."
- "the cynic, or Sothic, year; cynic cycle"
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: cynike, cynique, cynicus, κυνικός, *ḱwṓ