# cynical

Pronunciation: say "SIN-i-kuhl" /ˈsɪnɪkəl/

## Adjective

1. Inclined to doubt the integrity, sincerity, or true motives of other people.
   - Simple: Quick to doubt that other people are honest or really want to help.
   - _Years of covering city hall made the reporter cynical about official explanations._
   - _She gave his sudden friendliness a cynical reading, suspecting he wanted a favor._
2. Bitterly or jadedly distrustful or contemptuous of people and things, often in a mocking way.
   - Simple: Feeling bitter and tired of trusting people, and often making fun of things in a mean way.
   - _His cynical laugh made it clear he thought the charity gala was pure theater._
   - _Decades in the industry had left her cynical, sneering at each new 'revolutionary' product._
3. Relating to the belief that human actions are driven only or mainly by selfishness or base desires.
   - Simple: Based on the idea that people only do things for selfish reasons.
   - _The novel presents a cynical philosophy in which every act of kindness conceals self-interest._
   - _His cynical worldview holds that even heroism is just vanity in disguise._
4. Acting as though commonly accepted ideas of right and wrong deserve no respect.
   - Simple: Acting in a way that shows you do not care about what is right or fair.
   - _The company's cynical decision to bury the safety report put profits over lives._
   - _Pundits saw the pardon as a cynical bid to reward loyalists before the election._

## Adjective

5. Resembling a dog's snarl, as when facial nerve paralysis draws the mouth into a snarling expression. *(rare)*
   - Simple: Looking like an angry dog showing its teeth, often because the face nerves are not working right.

## Origin

First recorded in 1542, from Classical Latin "cynicus" ("Cynic") plus the suffix "-al". It ultimately traces to Ancient Greek "kunikos" ("doglike"), a reference to dogs.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/cynical (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).