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

And the sadistic acts 764 perpetrators promote are not always contained to a computer screen. — Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026

The notable exception is the always effective Lena Olin, whose brief turn as a concentration camp survivor attesting to Hermine’s true sadistic nature packs a quiet charge. — Michael Rechtshaffen, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026

Dungeon Crawler Carl is set after an alien invasion has wiped out most of humanity and any survivors are forced to fight for their lives on a sadistic intergalactic game show. — Peter White, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026

This was Perez Hilton, after all, a man who had earned fame in the mid-two-thousands for his salacious, sarcastic, and often sadistic coverage of celebrity suffering. — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026

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