CYNIC; CYNICAL

a.

4 definitions — Webster’s Dictionary (1828)


1.
a.

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.

2.
a.

Pertaining to the Dog Star; as, the cynic, or Sothic, year; cynic cycle.

3.
a.

Belonging to the sect of philosophers called cynics; having the qualities of a cynic; pertaining to, or resembling, the doctrines of the cynics.

4.
a.

Given to sneering at rectitude and the conduct of life by moral principles; disbelieving in the reality of any human purposes which are not suggested or directed by self-interest or self-indulgence; as, a cynical man who scoffs at pretensions of integrity; characterized by such opinions; as, cynical views of human nature.


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