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

For my 41st birthday, an especially sadistic buddy gave me a video of me falling off my skateboard nearly 160 times.

—Bret Anthony Johnston

sadistically

sə-ˈdi-sti-k(ə-)lē 

also sā-

or sa-

adverb

… in a gangster story realism requires that the hoods kill each other off and do so sadistically.

—Robert F. Moss

Synonyms of sadistic

• brutal
• cruel
• vicious
• savage
• ruthless

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

Also bent on finding the stone are sadistic rebel commander Captain Poison (David Harewood, oozing evil) and the coolly calculating Colonel (Arnold Vosloo), Danny’s one-time mentor as a soldier-for-hire. —Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 8 Dec. 2025

So the unseen figure of the ghost becomes an expression of the filmmaker’s power over the frame, evoking the sadistic-voyeuristic nature of cinema in general and genre cinema in particular. —Alison Willmore, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025

For this borderline-sadistic challenge, each couple was given four different dance styles to prepare ahead of time, but only minutes to pick a costume and perform in the ballroom after one was randomly selected. —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Nov. 2025

Mabry was able to get police involved again when the sadistic threats from Robert Bevers continued. —J.d. Miles, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sadistic

• artistic
• autistic
• ballistic
• cladistic
• heuristic
• holistic
• linguistic
• logistic
• monistic
• patristic
• simplistic
• sophistic