as in sarcastic
marked by the use of wit that is intended to cause hurt feelings
a sardonic little jab that made her visitor quiet and subdued for the rest of the night
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Recent Examples of sardonic
The television version faces the formidable challenge of how to represent Murderbot’s darkly comic interior monologue in a third-person format, and its success is in large part a function of Skarsgård’s face, which can pull off a range of sardonic micro-expressions.
—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 13 June 2025
And yet it’s still filled with sardonic commentary all the same, including this doozy: Despite their size, muscle bros at the gym are really just a bunch of babies.
—Nina Metz Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 8 May 2025
Advertisement Advertisement Anderson has been accused of many things: putting style before substance, being too sardonic as to lack emotionality, leaning too hard into nostalgia, becoming too fastidious for his own good.
—Shannon Carlin, Time, 30 May 2025
Some stellar comedians are pacing local stages this week, including seasoned sardonic comics Brian Regan, Jim Norton, Todd Barry and Paul F. Tompkins.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sardonic
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 13 June 2025
And yet it’s still filled with sardonic commentary all the same, including this doozy: Despite their size, muscle bros at the gym are really just a bunch of babies.
—Nina Metz Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 8 May 2025
Advertisement Advertisement Anderson has been accused of many things: putting style before substance, being too sardonic as to lack emotionality, leaning too hard into nostalgia, becoming too fastidious for his own good.
—Shannon Carlin, Time, 30 May 2025
Some stellar comedians are pacing local stages this week, including seasoned sardonic comics Brian Regan, Jim Norton, Todd Barry and Paul F. Tompkins.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sardonic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sardonic
Adjective
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And as trade speculation has risen, Harris reported a sarcastic one-word retort from the pitcher.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 July 2025
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Their dynamic is not entirely unlike that of the upstart Nomi and established Cristal in Showgirls or the sarcastic Devon and beatific Michaela in Sirens: On one hand, Sophie wants to be as confident and self-possessed as Margo, as comfortable in her own skin and her desires.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
22 July 2025
Adjective
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The poem is part love quest, part account of Italy’s battles; in places profoundly serious, in places satiric.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
11 June 2025
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Neither damning nor satiric, W. is oddly wistful, almost regretful — rare sentiments in a Stone film.—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Ivor checked it, and then spotted the line of barbed wire threaded through the scrub.—
Anne Enright,
New Yorker,
27 July 2025
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That speculative element is teased right there in the title: One of God’s best and brightest has been knocked from heaven by war’s tumult and is caught in a thatch of barbed wire.—
Ben H. Winters,
New York Times,
26 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sardonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sardonic. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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