as in pessimistic
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cynical
No formations, no expected goals, just unadulterated, cynical judgment from someone who needs a break from complaining about the Giants’ bullpen.
—
Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 11 June 2026
By the moment, midway through the show, when one hockey player tells another that safety is a cornerstone of female desire, my eyes were rolling around in my head with cynical abandon.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026
This is not, however, to say that The Federalist is a cynical work.
—Jordan Cash, The Conversation, 8 June 2026
There’s a cynical side of me that wonders what the odds are that the Jets’ solution to player development just so happens to be a former Jet.
—Murat Ates, New York Times, 5 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for cynical
Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 11 June 2026
By the moment, midway through the show, when one hockey player tells another that safety is a cornerstone of female desire, my eyes were rolling around in my head with cynical abandon.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026
This is not, however, to say that The Federalist is a cynical work.
—Jordan Cash, The Conversation, 8 June 2026
There’s a cynical side of me that wonders what the odds are that the Jets’ solution to player development just so happens to be a former Jet.
—Murat Ates, New York Times, 5 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for cynical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cynical
Adjective
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The same can be said for the One Wish Willow, whose regular availability in a holistic gift shop belies sinister developments until the customer is slowly dying from the ironic fallout of their heart’s deepest desire.—
Josh Weiss,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
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The Next Frontier That the private market revolution is being led by a company focused on cosmic exploration is ironic, considering how few investors were believers when the field was getting started two decades ago.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
11 June 2026
Adjective
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Every post is something sarcastic about what other investors are doing and saying.—
Josh Brown,Sean Russo,
CNBC,
4 Dec. 2025
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Muhammad responded with a sarcastic agreement.—
Fernando Quiles Jr,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Others remain more pessimistic about the jobs outlook and see more room for the Fed to cut rates even further in 2026.—
Susan Tompor,
Freep.com,
10 Dec. 2025
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Consumers are grappling with higher prices and a slowdown in the labor market that has left many pessimistic about their own financial outlook and the economy at large.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Courage California’s Kao said the negative ads may have reflected poorly on Steyer, whose favorability ratings were nearly 10 percentage points lower than Becerra’s in a final UC Berkeley poll in late May.—
Ben Paviour,
Sacbee.com,
10 June 2026
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The mother-in-law tends to be very negative, and is known to say unkind things about whoever isn’t present.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
10 June 2026
Adjective
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Once upon a time, in a swamp far, far away, Mike Myers graced us by voicing DreamWorks' misanthropic ogre.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 May 2026
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The misanthropic music matched the bleak unreality of the antisocial pandemic world.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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But some agents IndieWire spoke with were skeptical such success stories were anything more than one-offs.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
11 Dec. 2025
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Politicians on the other side of the political spectrum are equally skeptical.—
Jared Perlo,
NBC news,
11 Dec. 2025
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 17 Jun. 2026.
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