sadistic
adjective
sa·dis·tic
sə-ˈdi-stik 
also sā-
or sa-
: of, relating to, or characterized by sadism
sadistic fantasies
: taking pleasure in the infliction of pain, punishment, or humiliation on others
… a leg … sawed off in sections by a sadistic surgeon …—
The New Yorker
The New YorkerFor my 41st birthday, an especially sadistic buddy gave me a video of me falling off my skateboard nearly 160 times.—Bret Anthony Johnston
Bret Anthony Johnston
sadistically
adverb
… in a gangster story realism requires that the hoods kill each other off and do so sadistically.
—Robert F. Moss
Robert F. Moss
Examples of sadistic in a Sentence
the troubled youth is being treated by a psychotherapist for his sadistic urges to hurt animals
Recent Examples on the Web
Court documents say Favret worked with others to create and distribute videos that showed sadistic acts against baby and adult monkeys.
—Nicole Young, Nashville Tennessean, 14 Nov. 2025
Nicholas Hoult and Colin Firth, who played excited college student Kenny and lonely professor George in the director’s 2009 feature-film debut, A Single Man, will star along with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who won a Golden Globe for playing a sadistic gang leader in Nocturnal Animals.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2025
With its sadistic violence, taboo sexuality, and grim depiction of postwar London, Peeping Tom was a flop that essentially ended the illustrious career of director Michael Powell, falling into obscurity until Martin Scorsese rescued it and rehabilitated its reputation with a 1979 rerelease.
—Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Unlike Cesar Romero’s Joker from the child-friendly TV Batman, cheery and inane, Jack Nicholson’s version is fully monstrous—sneering and sadistic, his dead eyes obscene next to his rictus grin.
—The Atlantic Culture Desk, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sadistic
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Nicole Young, Nashville Tennessean, 14 Nov. 2025
Nicholas Hoult and Colin Firth, who played excited college student Kenny and lonely professor George in the director’s 2009 feature-film debut, A Single Man, will star along with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who won a Golden Globe for playing a sadistic gang leader in Nocturnal Animals.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2025
With its sadistic violence, taboo sexuality, and grim depiction of postwar London, Peeping Tom was a flop that essentially ended the illustrious career of director Michael Powell, falling into obscurity until Martin Scorsese rescued it and rehabilitated its reputation with a 1979 rerelease.
—Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2025
Unlike Cesar Romero’s Joker from the child-friendly TV Batman, cheery and inane, Jack Nicholson’s version is fully monstrous—sneering and sadistic, his dead eyes obscene next to his rictus grin.
—The Atlantic Culture Desk, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sadistic
Cite this Entry
“Sadistic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sadistic. Accessed 23 Nov. 2025.
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