[sin-ik] 
| 1. | a person who believes that only selfishness motivates human actions and who disbelieves in or minimizes selfless acts or disinterested points of view. |
| 2. | (initial capital letter ) one of a sect of Greek philosophers, 4th century b.c., who advocated the doctrines that virtue is the only good, that the essence of virtue is self-control, and that surrender to any external influence is beneath human dignity. |
| 3. | a person who shows or expresses a bitterly or sneeringly cynical attitude. |
| 4. | cynical. |
| 5. | (initial capital letter) Also, Cynical. of or pertaining to the Cynics or their doctrines. |
| 6. | Medicine/Medical Now Rare. resembling the actions of a snarling dog. |
| cyn·ic (sĭn'ĭk) n.
[Latin cynicus, Cynic philosopher, from Greek kunikos, from kuōn, kun-, dog; see kwon- in Indo-European roots.] Word History: A cynic may be pardoned for thinking that this is a dog's life. The Greek word kunikos, from which cynic comes, was originally an adjective meaning "doglike," from kuōn, "dog." The word was probably applied to the Cynic philosophers because of the nickname kuōn given to Diogenes of Sinope, the prototypical Cynic. He is reported to have been seen barking in public, urinating on the leg of a table, and masturbating on the street. The first use of the word recorded in English, in a work published from 1547 to 1564, is in the plural for members of this philosophical sect. In 1596 we find the first instance of cynic meaning "faultfinder," a sense that was to develop into our modern sense. The meaning "faultfinder" came naturally from the behavior of countless Cynics who in their pursuit of virtue pointed out the flaws in others. Such faultfinding could lead quite naturally to the belief associated with cynics of today that selfishness determines human behavior. |
