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

Take Stallone’s troubled Vietnam vet, Rambo, who hates prejudiced cops, duplicitous CIA agents and sadistic Soviet lieutenant colonels (not in that order). —John Devore, Rolling Stone, 31 Mar. 2025

Real fans, however, know that Grey’s Anatomy is actually an emotional torture device overseen by the brilliant and sadistic Shonda Rhimes, an agonizing exercise in grief and loss delivered in weekly installments. —Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 27 Mar. 2025

Judge Barrett’s cruel, sadistic, and partisan sentence also has deprived Peters of the ability to see her 95-year-old mother. —Mike Davis, The Denver Post, 19 Mar. 2025

That is until sadistic Shauna and her sidekick Melissa arrive. —Erin Qualey, Vulture, 7 Mar. 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