adj
Meaning 1
Synonym of cynical.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cynical
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
cynic
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈsɪnɪk/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɪnɪk
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homophone: Sinic
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CMU ARPABET: S IH1 N IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Relating to the Dog Star.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
- the cynic, or Sothic, year; cynic cycle
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Of or relating to the Cynics.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A person whose outlook is scornfully negative.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
someone who is critical of the motives of others
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: faultfinder
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: unpleasant person, disagreeable person
Narrower terms: detractor, disparager, depreciator, knocker
noun
Meaning 8
a member of a group of ancient Greek philosophers who advocated the doctrine that virtue is the only good and that the essence of virtue is self-control
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: philosopher
History
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.
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.
Across languages
Translations
66 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: cinik — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Chinese Mandarin: 愤青 (fènqīng) — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Czech: cynik — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Danish: kyniker — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Dutch: cynicus — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Finnish: kyynikko — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- French: cynique — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Galician: cínico — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Galician: cínica — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- German: Zyniker — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- German: Zynikerin — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Greek: κυνικός (kynikós) — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Hebrew: ציניקן (tziniqan) — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Hebrew: ציניקנית (tziniqanit) — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Hindi: दोषदर्शी (doṣdarśī) — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Italian: cinico — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Norwegian Bokmål: kyniker — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Norwegian Nynorsk: kynikar — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Persian: بدگمان (bad-gomân) — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Polish: cynik — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Polish: cyniczka — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Portuguese: cínico — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Russian: ци́ник (cínik) — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Serbo-Croatian: cìnik — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Spanish: cínico — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Swedish: cyniker — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Ukrainian: ци́нік (cýnik) — A person who believes that all people are motivated by selfishness
- Albanian: cinik — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Czech: cynik — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Danish: kyniker — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Dutch: cynicus — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Finnish: kyynikko — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- French: cynique — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Galician: cínico — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Galician: cínica — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- German: Zyniker — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- German: Zynikerin — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Greek: κυνικός (kynikós) — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Italian: cinico — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Māori: kaiwhakahāwea — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Norwegian Bokmål: kyniker — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Norwegian Nynorsk: kynikar — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Polish: cynik — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Polish: cyniczka — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Portuguese: cínico — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Portuguese: cínica — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Russian: ци́ник (cínik) — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Serbo-Croatian: cìnik — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Spanish: cínico — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Swedish: cyniker — A person whose outlook is scornfully negative
- Arabic: كَلْبِيّ (kalbiyy) — relating to the Cynics
- Esperanto: cinika — relating to the Cynics
- German: kynisch — relating to the Cynics
- Greek: κυνικός (kynikós) — relating to the Cynics
- Ido: Ciniko — relating to the Cynics
- Japanese: 犬儒 (kenju) — relating to the Cynics
- Korean: 견유 (gyeonyu) — relating to the Cynics
- Latin: Cynicus — relating to the Cynics
- Arabic: كَلْبِيّ (kalbiyy) — philosopher
- Esperanto: ciniko — philosopher
- French: cynique — philosopher
- German: Kyniker — philosopher
- German: Kynikerin — philosopher
- Greek: Κυνικός (Kynikós) — philosopher
- Ancient Greek: Κυνικός (Kunikós) — philosopher
- Latin: Cynicus — philosopher