Cynicism

How to spell cynicism

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce cynicism

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cynicism mean?

1. nounA general distrust of other people's motives, or a belief that they act only out of self-interest.

Cynicism in a sentence

• Years of broken promises bred a deep cynicism about politicians.

• Her cynicism about corporate charity made her question every donation.

Where does cynicism come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The word traces back to the ancient Greek kynikos, which literally meant 'dog-like', from kyon, the ordinary Greek word for 'dog'. It became the name of a philosophical school founded around the fourth century BC, whose most famous member, Diogenes, was nicknamed 'the dog' for his deliberately shameless, ascetic way of living and his contempt for social convention. From the school's harsh, distrustful view of human motives the word drifted toward its modern meaning, a settled belief that people act only out of self-interest. Latin took it up as cynicus, and English absorbed cynicism through French in the late 1500s and 1600s. The spelling keeps the Greek 'cy-' opening and the soft internal 'c', which is the very trap: it sounds like 'sin-i-sizm' yet is written with two letters that say /s/, the 'c' and the 's'.

How the word is built

• cynic (from Greek kynikos: dog-like, the philosophical sect)
• -ism (noun suffix denoting a belief or attitude)