as in misanthrope
a person who distrusts other people and believes that everything is done for selfish reasons
a cynic who believes that nobody does a good deed without expecting something in return
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cynic
Other cynics tend to follow suit, sitting out elections and social movements more often than non-cynics.
—
Jamil Zaki, TIME, 3 Sep. 2024
In the verses, Bradley Cooper and Gaga’s lyrics and vocal lines are mirrored — two world-weary cynics serenading each other.
—Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2024
Into this void emerge the cynics and the snake-oil merchants, the dreamers, the circumventers, the guileful peddlers of One Weird Tricks.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 16 Dec. 2024
Some cynics are bound to exhort that this isn’t worth much of a hullabaloo.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cynic 
Jamil Zaki, TIME, 3 Sep. 2024
In the verses, Bradley Cooper and Gaga’s lyrics and vocal lines are mirrored — two world-weary cynics serenading each other.
—Kristen S. Hé, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2024
Into this void emerge the cynics and the snake-oil merchants, the dreamers, the circumventers, the guileful peddlers of One Weird Tricks.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 16 Dec. 2024
Some cynics are bound to exhort that this isn’t worth much of a hullabaloo.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cynic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cynic
Noun
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The late Swiss writer Markus Werner’s bleakly funny The Frog in the Throat, first published forty years ago, is a parallel portrait of father-and-son misanthropes and seems to speak directly to our moment.—
James Gleick,
The New York Review of Books,
7 Feb. 2025
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Misery loves company; a misanthrope, however, does not.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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At the time, critics felt the dance glorified gang violence, while fans defending Williams felt the outcry was racially motivated.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA TODAY,
11 Feb. 2025
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The comments prompted an outpouring of condemnation from critics including David Schwimmer and Piers Morgan.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
10 Feb. 2025
Noun
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That downward trend has made pessimists out of the class of 2025.—
Christine Y. Cruzvergara,
Forbes,
23 Dec. 2024
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Van der Lugt thinks the pessimist’s is more motivating and sees a danger in the optimist’s, because if things look so generally bright, why should anyone get off the couch?—
Gal Beckerman,
The Atlantic,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
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This fun comedy is a hidden gem on the streamer starring Eddie Murphy as real-life legend Rudy Ray Moore, a comedy and rap pioneer who proved naysayers wrong when his hilarious, obscene, kung-fu fighting alter ego, Dolemite, became a 1970s Blaxploitation phenomenon.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
14 Feb. 2025
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To naysayers, Lamar was too verbose, too political, too obscure for pop music’s biggest stage, which has typically featured culturally safe icons belting universally beloved anthems to the stadium rafters.—
Andrew R. Chow,
TIME,
10 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Among the project’s skeptics, President Trump and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy have raised concerns about the program’s potential impact.—
DJ Gribbin,
New York Daily News,
7 Feb. 2025
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The committee vote, which was held this morning in a room crammed to capacity with what appeared to be roughly equal numbers of Kennedy’s skeptics and devotees, certainly fit with the behavior of a compliant GOP.—
Nicholas Florko,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2025
Video
The History of 'Cynic'
How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.
Thesaurus Entries Near cynic
Cite this Entry
“Cynic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cynic. Accessed 20 Feb. 2025.
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