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{%type%} Definitions

WordNet 3.0Copyright Princeton University
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Short "hint"

Believing that people act only for their own purposes. Also: sarcastic.

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Usage examples (36)
  • Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack.
  • Upbeat but cynical is a perfect description of her voice.
  • It's ever so tempting to look at the Detroit Lions and roll one's eyes in cynical derision.
  • Mothers grieve, the public suffers want and deprivation while he looks on in cynical amusement.
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The Open Dictionary of English is a collaborative project, based on Open Source materials, LearnThat resources, and partner APIs.
We give special thanks to our LearnThat volunteers, as well as Princeton University and Wiktionary for their Open Source word data. We're also grateful for the support given by Google, Wordnik.com, Dictionary.com, Stands4.com and YouTube, OEDILF.com, Kylescholz.com, Best-Practice.com, Forvo.com, as well as the generous Creative Commons community.