Sarcastic

How to spell sarcastic

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce sarcastic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sarcastic mean?

1. adjectiveUsing mocking, often ironic remarks intended to ridicule or wound.

Sarcastic in a sentence

• His sarcastic reply made it clear he disagreed with the plan.

• She shot him a sarcastic look when he claimed he had finished early.

Where does sarcastic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek verb sarkazein, which literally meant 'to tear flesh' or 'to gnash the teeth', and by extension 'to bite the lips in rage' or 'to speak bitterly'. The verb was built on sarx, the Greek word for 'flesh', a root that also survives in medical terms like 'sarcoma', a fleshy tumour. From sarkazein the Greeks formed the adjective sarkastikos, describing speech that was cutting or scornful, as if it were biting into someone. The word travelled through Late Latin as sarcasmus and into French as sarcastique before settling into English in the seventeenth century. Remembering that the heart of the word is sarx, 'flesh', helps fix the unusual 'sarc-' opening rather than the smoother sounding 'sark-'.

How the word is built

• sark- (flesh, from Greek sarx)
• -astic (adjective-forming suffix)