Search Result for "cynical": 
Wordnet 3.0

ADJECTIVE (1)

1. believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others;
[syn: cynical, misanthropic, misanthropical]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Cynic \Cyn"ic\ (s[i^]n"[i^]k), Cynical \Cyn"ic*al\ (-[i^]*kal), a. [L. cynicus of the sect of Cynics, fr. Gr. kyniko`s, prop., dog-like, fr. ky`wn, kyno`s, dog. See Hound.] 1. Having the qualities of a surly dog; snarling; captious; currish. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received. --Johnson. [1913 Webster] 2. Pertaining to the Dog Star; as, the cynic, or Sothic, year; cynic cycle. [1913 Webster] 3. Belonging to the sect of philosophers called cynics; having the qualities of a cynic; pertaining to, or resembling, the doctrines of the cynics. [1913 Webster] 4. Given to sneering at rectitude and the conduct of life by moral principles; believing the worst of human nature and motives; disbelieving in the reality of any human purposes which are not suggested or directed by self-interest or self-indulgence; having a sneering disbelief in the selflessness of others; as, a cynical man who scoffs at pretensions of integrity; characterized by such opinions; as, cynical views of human nature. Syn: misanthropic, misanthropical. [1913 Webster] Note: In prose, cynical is used rather than cynic, in the senses 1 and 4. [1913 Webster] Cynic spasm (Med.), a convulsive contraction of the muscles of one side of the face, producing a sort of grin, suggesting certain movements in the upper lip of a dog. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

cynical adj 1: believing the worst of human nature and motives; having a sneering disbelief in e.g. selflessness of others [syn: cynical, misanthropic, misanthropical]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

41 Moby Thesaurus words for "cynical": Cassandra-like, Cassandran, Cassandrian, Rabelaisian, Timonistic, antisocial, captious, carping, caustic, caviling, critical, defeatist, dismal, downbeat, dry, faultfinding, gloomy, hairsplitting, hypercritical, ironic, man-hating, misogynous, nagging, negative, negativistic, niggling, nihilistic, overcritical, pessimist, pessimistic, pettifogging, quibbling, sarcastic, sardonic, satiric, sexist, trichoschistic, ultracritical, uncheerful, unsociable, woman-hating