A cynic is someone who believes that people always act selfishly.
I have come to be very much of a cynic in these matters.
Synonyms: sceptic, doubter, pessimist, misanthrope More Synonyms of cynic
cynic in British English
(ˈsɪnɪk)
noun
1.
a person who believes the worst about people or the outcome of events
adjective
2. a less common word for cynical
3. astronomy
of or relating to Sirius, the Dog Star
Word origin
C16: via Latin from Greek Kunikos, from kuōn dog
Cynic in British English
(ˈsɪnɪk)
noun
a member of a sect founded by Antisthenes that scorned worldly things and held that self-control was the key to the only good
cynic in American English
(ˈsɪnɪk)
noun
1. [C-]
a member of a school of ancient Greek philosophers who held virtue to be the only good and stressed independence from worldly needs and pleasures: they became critical of the rest of society and its material interests
2.
a cynical person
adjective
3. [C-]
of or like the Cynics or their doctrines
4.
cynical
Word origin
L Cynicus < Gr kynikos, lit., doglike, as if < kyōn, dog (see hound1), nickname of Diogenes, but prob. in allusion to the Kynosarges, a gymnasium where the Cynics taught (< kyōn + argos, lit., white dog, so named after an animal in a myth concerning Hercules, to whomthe gymnasium was sacred)
Examples of 'cynic' in a sentence
cynic
Only a cynic would suggest his first reaction was more telling.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Only a cynic would dare suggest it is anything but coincidence in this mercenary age of cash comes first.
The Sun (2016)
Let cynics say he's just taking care of business.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Cynics might say that I get special service.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
But the figures may make cynics think again.
The Sun (2013)
The cynic might suggest because it does not affect them.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Cynics will say that was actually the queue for an appointment.
The Sun (2014)
Cynics suggested that the computer maker was trying to minimise media coverage.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Cynics will say that they are merely trying to drum up business.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Cynics might suggest that this would be a good way to bury bad news.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Cynics say it was simply a bad knock.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Cynics may ask whether governments will have any more luck rescuing economies than they did in diverting them away from trouble.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Not in this old cynic's book.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Light, youthful indie pop with enough cheeky charm to win over the most hardened cynic.
The Sun (2015)
It brings a tear to an old cynic's eye.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
It's enough to make the most hardened cynic join the hippies absorbing the cosmic vibes.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Aren't detectives meant to be hardened old cynics?
The Sun (2012)
Five years on, it looks as if the cynics may have got it wrong.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
This at least answers cynics who claim that recycling plastic is a waste of money and energy since plastic is so cheap to make.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
A cynic could say he will merely have a smaller pot to not spend.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
He was called for throwing and cynics claim cricket's laws on flexing the arm were changed for him.
The Sun (2011)
A mild cynic might suggest she would have found it less undesirable if she had thought she could win.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Surely I should be a crusty old cynic by now.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
But I hope the old cynic in me is proved wrong.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Or, as some cynics would claim, just a silly fad?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
And the cynics swarmed, claiming the 31-year-old stopper is on the slide as the sands of time catch him up.
The Sun (2009)
Sunset at the end of a blissfully hot summer's day in London would prompt a moment of nostalgic longing in the most hardened of cynics.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Quotations
A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothingOscar WildeLady Windermere's Fan
The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad oneH.W. BeecherProverbs from Plymouth Pulpit
cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to beAmbrose BierceThe Devil's Dictionary
In other languages
cynic
British English: cynic NOUN
A cynic is someone who believes that people always act selfishly.
I have come to be very much of a cynic in these matters.
American English: cynic
Brazilian Portuguese: cínico
Chinese: 人皆自私论者
European Spanish: cínico
French: cynique
German: Zyniker
Italian: cinico
Japanese: 人間不信の人
Korean: 냉소가
European Portuguese: cínico
Latin American Spanish: cínico
Chinese translation of 'cynic'
cynic
(ˈsɪnɪk)
n(c)
愤(憤)世嫉俗者 (fèn shì jí sú zhě)
(noun)
Definition
a person who believes that people always act selfishly
A cynic might see this as simply a ploy to make us part with more money.
Synonyms
sceptic
He was a born sceptic.
doubter
Doubters fear this may not be good news.
pessimist
Unfortunately, the pessimists are being proved right.
misanthrope
One myth is that he was a grumbling misanthrope.
misanthropist
scoffer
Quotations
A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing [Oscar Wilde – Lady Windermere's Fan]The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one [H.W. Beecher – Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit]cynic: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be [Ambrose Bierce – The Devil's Dictionary]
Additional synonyms
in the sense of doubter
Doubters fear this may not be good news.
Synonyms
sceptic,
questioner,
disbeliever,
agnostic,
unbeliever,
doubting Thomas
in the sense of misanthrope
Definition
a person who dislikes or distrusts people in general
One myth is that he was a grumbling misanthrope.
Synonyms
cynic,
sceptic,
grouch,
grump,
misanthropist,
mankind-hater
in the sense of pessimist
Unfortunately, the pessimists are being proved right.