as in ironic
having or showing a deep distrust of human beings and their motives
so cynical that he can't understand why anyone would volunteer to help out at a homeless shelter
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Recent Examples of cynical
Season 2, in the big picture, takes a cynical approach to modern relationships, asking if love is an inherently selfish endeavor within a capitalistic society, where your quality of life is so heavily influenced by what’s in your bank account.
—
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 16 Apr. 2026
Wally, too cynical to apprentice.
—Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
The Season 3 premiere is no different, plunging viewers back into Sam Levinson‘s provocative story about young people searching for meaning and connection in a chaotic, often cynical, world.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 12 Apr. 2026
Most of the infrastructure that was struck was located within the heart of the civilian population, as part of Hezbollah's cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilians as human shields in order to safeguard its operations.
—Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cynical
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 16 Apr. 2026
Wally, too cynical to apprentice.
—Literary Hub, 14 Apr. 2026
The Season 3 premiere is no different, plunging viewers back into Sam Levinson‘s provocative story about young people searching for meaning and connection in a chaotic, often cynical, world.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 12 Apr. 2026
Most of the infrastructure that was struck was located within the heart of the civilian population, as part of Hezbollah's cynical exploitation of Lebanese civilians as human shields in order to safeguard its operations.
—Benjamin Weinthal, FOXNews.com, 8 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for cynical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cynical
Adjective
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Another entry in our recent deluge of ironic gorefests, Over Your Dead Body doesn’t really give us anything new, although for its first half at least, the picture gets by on some verve and a modicum of intelligence.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
24 Apr. 2026
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That’s more than a little ironic, given that the start-up’s entire proposition revolves around trust.—
Will Gottsegen,
The Atlantic,
24 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Middle of Nowhere’s Kacey is witty, a bit sarcastic, alternately ecstatic and frustrated but always ready to entertain.—
Molly Mary O’Brien,
Pitchfork,
1 May 2026
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According to a live feed from The New York Times, within minutes of the third day starting, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had to reproach Musk, instructing him to stop being sarcastic and evasive.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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And work, as this alternately breezy and quite pessimistic crowdpleaser is quick to remind us, isn’t to be taken for granted.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
29 Apr. 2026
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Horowitz, for his part, is not pessimistic about where this lands.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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According to Newsweek, the overall score was composed of 80% from survey results, and 20% from social listening analysis, which analyzed media coverage and online discussion to assess whether public sentiment was positive, neutral or negative.—
Finch Walker,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
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The contest aims to challenge negative stereotypes of seagulls, which are often seen as a nuisance, by imitating them, per local network WTV.—
Adam England,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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The misanthropic music matched the bleak unreality of the antisocial pandemic world.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
26 Feb. 2026
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By the end of the year, Alfred Tennyson, lately miserable, misanthropic, semi-broke, and semi-feral, had been made the Poet Laureate of England.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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But Alireza Nader, an Iranian independent analyst based in Washington, is skeptical that economic pressure alone will force a strategic breaking point.—
Efrat Lachter,
FOXNews.com,
1 May 2026
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After the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, which claimed some 300,000 lives, Chardy set out to confirm first-hand whether such a high toll was possible in response to an editor’s skeptical questions, said Jacqueline Charles, the Herald’s longtime Haiti and Caribbean correspondent.—
Andres Viglucci,
Miami Herald,
1 May 2026
Video
The History of 'Cynic'
How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.
Cite this Entry
“Cynical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cynical. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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