sadistic

adjective

sa·​dis·​tic sə-ˈdi-stik 

 also  sā-,

 or  sa-

: of, relating to, or characterized by sadism

sadistic fantasies

: taking pleasure in the infliction of pain, punishment, or humiliation on others

a leg … sawed off in sections by a sadistic surgeon

—The New Yorker

For my 41st birthday, an especially sadistic buddy gave me a video of me falling off my skateboard nearly 160 times.

—Bret Anthony Johnston

sadistically

sə-ˈdi-sti-k(ə-)lē 

 also  sā-

 or  sa-

adverb

… in a gangster story realism requires that the hoods kill each other off and do so sadistically.

—Robert F. Moss

Synonyms

• atrocious
• barbaric
• barbarous
• brutal
• brute
• butcherly
• cruel
• fiendish
• heartless
• inhuman
• inhumane
• savage
• truculent
• vicious
• wanton

Examples of sadistic in a Sentence

the troubled youth is being treated by a psychotherapist for his sadistic urges to hurt animals

Recent Examples on the Web

May 27, 2025 One of the standout performances of the franchise is Anthony Starr as Homelander, a sadistic version of Superman that leads the superhero group The Seven. —Jeremy Hanna, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025

But evil often exists within the walls of a home rather than outside: her sadistic brother Shawn physically abused her for years while her parents looked the other way. —The Know, Denver Post, 28 May 2025

Ward 209 has been a repository for detainees leveraged as pawns in Iran’s sadistic foreign policy. —Robin Wright, New Yorker, 26 May 2025

Her granddaughter, Millicent, falls for Nenagh’s bad boy, the sadistic Augie Penrose. —Hamilton Cain, New York Times, 17 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sadistic

• artistic
• autistic
• ballistic
• cladistic
• heuristic
• holistic
• linguistic
• logistic
• monistic
• patristic
• simplistic
• sophistic