Definition of Cynic

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Definition of Cynic

Cynic

Alt. of Cynical

One of a sect or school of philosophers founded by Antisthenes, and of whom Diogenes was a disciple. The first Cynics were noted for austere lives and their scorn for social customs and current philosophical opinions. Hence the term Cynic symbolized, in the popular judgment, moroseness, and contempt for the views of others.

One who holds views resembling those of the Cynics; a snarler; a misanthrope; particularly, a person who believes that human conduct is directed, either consciously or unconsciously, wholly by self-interest or self-indulgence, and that appearances to the contrary are superficial and untrustworthy.

Related Definitions:

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Cynic Quotations

There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing.
Maya Angelou

A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde

The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde

What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Oscar Wilde

Remember, beneath every cynic there lies a romantic, and probably an injured one.
Glenn Beck

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.
H. L. Mencken

Cynic, n: a blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be.
Ambrose Bierce

An idealist believes the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.
Sydney J. Harris

The cynic says, "One man can't do anything." I say, "Only one man can do anything."
John W. Gardner

Woman: the peg on which the wit hangs his jest, the preacher his text, the cynic his grouch and the sinner his justification.
Helen Rowland

Cynic Translations

cynic in German is Zyniker, zynisch
cynic in Norwegian is kyniker
cynic in Swedish is cyniker

Quotes