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(sn"k), Cyn"ical (-kal)} a.[L. cynicus of the sect of Cynics, fr. Gr. kyniko°s, prop., dog-like, fr. ky°wn, kyno°s, dog. See Hound.] 1. Having the qualities of a surly dog; snarling; captious; currish. I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received. Johnson. 2. Pertaining to the Dog Star; as, the cynic, or Sothic, year; cynic cycle. 3. Belonging to the sect of philosophers called cynics; having the qualities of a cynic; pertaining to, or resembling, the doctrines of the cynics. 4. Given to sneering at rectitude and the conduct of life by moral principles; disbelieving in the reality of any human purposes which are not suggested or directed by self-interest or self-indulgence; as, a cynical man who scoffs at pretensions of integrity; characterized by such opinions; as, cynical views of human nature. In prose, cynical is used rather than cynic, in the senses 1 and 4. Cynic spasm (Med.), a convulsive contraction of the mus スポンサード リンク
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