How do you use Cynical in a sentence? See 10+ example sentences showing how this word appears in different contexts, including synonyms like misanthropic or distrustful, plus the exact meaning.
Cynical meaning
- Of or relating to the belief that human actions are motivated only or primarily by base desires or selfishness.
- Skeptical of the integrity, sincerity, or motives of others.
- Bitterly or jadedly distrustful or contemptuous; mocking.
Synonyms of Cynical
Using Cynical
- The main meaning on this page is: Of or relating to the belief that human actions are motivated only or primarily by base desires or selfishness. | Skeptical of the integrity, sincerity, or motives of others. | Bitterly or jadedly distrustful or contemptuous; mocking.
- Useful related words include: misanthropic, misanthropical, distrustful.
- In the example corpus, cynical often appears in combinations such as: cynical about, cynical and, the cynical.
Context around Cynical
- Average sentence length in these examples: 23.5 words
- Position in the sentence: 5 start, 13 middle, 2 end
- Sentence types: 20 statements, 0 questions, 0 exclamations
Corpus analysis for Cynical
- In this selection, "cynical" usually appears in the middle of the sentence. The average example has 23.5 words, and this corpus slice is mostly made up of statements.
- Around the word, naive, naively, becomes, naively, cynically and attitude stand out and add context to how "cynical" is used.
- Recognizable usage signals include are becoming cynical and distrustful and be less cynical than his. That gives this page its own corpus information beyond isolated example sentences.
- By corpus frequency, "cynical" sits close to words such as belle, boone and captains, which helps place it inside the broader word index.
Example types with cynical
The same corpus examples are grouped by length and sentence type, making it easier to see the contexts in which the word appears:
But, it was cynical and reckless. (6 words)
Digne is booked for a cynical challenge on Garner. (9 words)
His first yellow came for a cynical foul on Todd Cantwell. (11 words)
Even if you take a cynical view of him, he seems certain to care about the club more than the current owners, and there is an argument that United don't need Qatari money but rather an owner who puts money back into the club rather than taking it out. (50 words)
Fulham edged an entertaining but goalless first half - which had significantly more cynical fouls and crunching tackles than clear-cut opportunities - and the visitors had two shots from Andreas Pereira and Willian saved in the first 10 minutes. (38 words)
Instead, Trump took $8 million from Peterson Air Force Base for a Space Control Facility that was budgeted in 2018, but not yet spent, making Gardner look — take your pick — naive, cynical, naively cynical, cynically naive. (36 words)
Example sentences (20)
While politics as it is may make them cynical, they’re not cynical about America and its possibilities.
Instead, Trump took $8 million from Peterson Air Force Base for a Space Control Facility that was budgeted in 2018, but not yet spent, making Gardner look — take your pick — naive, cynical, naively cynical, cynically naive.
Some might think this a cynical attitude to take, but they would be mistaken, as reality can never be classified as cynical for it is simply truth.
After moving from Australia to the United States, Rocko becomes cynical as he learns how to master "adulting" on his own.
Although Pratt's Indiana Jones would undoubtedly be less cynical than his predecessor, the actor is just different enough from Ford to remain familiar while still treading new ground.
As they age, some stay just as lively, others turn cynical; some have followed their plans while others have unpredictably strayed.
Because of this, we trust institutions less and are becoming cynical and distrustful.
Beyond his cynical (though not necessarily incorrect) take on politicians, when they get involved, things tend to get more complicated.
Business Hunter chief executive Bob Hawes acknowledged some traders were "cynical" about the council surveys but urged them to participate to make their views known.
But in the words of a cynical internet meme: Pics, or it didn't happen.
But, it was cynical and reckless.
But Ms. Tompkins calls herself cynical, saying she worries deeply about climate change.
Digne is booked for a cynical challenge on Garner.
Directed by John Ford -- with David Lynch playing Ford in -- the movie is among the most cynical Westerns stars John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart ever made.
Even if you take a cynical view of him, he seems certain to care about the club more than the current owners, and there is an argument that United don't need Qatari money but rather an owner who puts money back into the club rather than taking it out.
For many cynical observers, Pakistan is to stay even in its current position, provided there are interested stakeholders to its strategic location in the region and its willingness to do odd jobs as and when required.
Fulham edged an entertaining but goalless first half - which had significantly more cynical fouls and crunching tackles than clear-cut opportunities - and the visitors had two shots from Andreas Pereira and Willian saved in the first 10 minutes.
Haneke plays a cynical game of his own with the audience's expectations, compelling viewers to re-evaluate how we consume entertainment, especially horror films.
He insisted that the document dump was evidence of the agency's willingness to engage in a cynical cover-up designed to hide embarrassing truths from both him and the public.
His first yellow came for a cynical foul on Todd Cantwell.
Common combinations with cynical
These word pairs occur most frequently in English texts:
- cynical about 22×
- cynical and 20×
- the cynical 13×
- and cynical 12×
- more cynical 11×
- be cynical 10×
- most cynical 9×
- as cynical 7×
- is cynical 7×
- cynical but 6×