CYNICISM Synonyms: 76 Similar and Opposite Words

cynicism

noun

Definition of cynicism

as in desperation

cynical beliefs; beliefs that people are generally selfish and dishonest Nothing could change her cynicism about politics.

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cynicism Cole’s Tyler acts practically while collapsing into a black hole of cynicism. — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026 But Roy’s story of Annie (Arjun Raina), a New Delhi architecture student caught in a vicious cycle of failing and repeating his studies, gradually reveals itself as a sharp and poignant portrayal of youth, deftly poised between hope and cynicism. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2026 Mitchell’s own imitation of Spielbergian life, despite its meticulous re-creation (and gleeful destruction) of eighties suburbia, stumbles into an uncanny valley between sincerity and cynicism, between unintentional comedy and deliberate homage. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026 The other presidents had some semblance of comedic appreciation, whether through cynicism, irony, sarcasm, joke-telling, joke appreciation or storytelling. — John Blumenthal, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cynicism

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cynicism

Noun

But his approach is from a position of deftness and strength, not desperation.

— Hilary Milnes, Vogue, 3 Sep. 2026
The mood would be a mix of confidence, desperation and nagging dread.

— Austin Meek, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of desperation

Noun

Despite being steeped in the sadness and frustration of the working class, Lee’s drama uses its film-within-a-film construct to refract the moral valences of labor through the prism of what people actually earn through their work.

— David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2026
This one, however, finds the director in a mood to confront the inevitable changes and march of time, its joys and sadness in the lives of ordinary people going about living it.

— Pete Hammond, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of sadness

Noun

But comparisons aside, this is unmistakably a Lee Chang-dong film, its aching humanism reflecting the co-existence of despair and hope.

— David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2026
From despair to salvation and then back again, the picture at the end of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United was of flailing limbs, both on the touchline, as players mobbed late, late equaliser-scorer Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and in the stands.

— Patrick Boyland, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026

Definition of despair

Noun

After a shambolic end to the transfer window on Tuesday night, more doom and gloom was descending on Hill Dickinson Stadium five days later when United’s Benjamin Sesko headed home what looked to be an 88th-minute winner.

— Stuart James, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2026
There is a tendency for gloom to descend when thinking about Europe’s economic and business prospects.

— Kamal Ahmed, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of gloom

Noun

These proposals, many times rooted in sympathy and love, were presented as alternatives to the political structures and market logic that had so often led to war, exploitation, hopelessness, and suffering.

— Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
Sinatra’s sense of hopelessness is relentless — there’s no meaning in his pursuit of the killer.

— Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of hopelessness

Noun

On the one hand, there’s a fascination with collective joy and the forms of vernacular invention that aspire to it; on the other, there’s an underlying melancholy that points to the inevitability of isolation, an epistemology of loneliness.

— Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026
Beneath all the sensuality and beauty, there’s also a lingering melancholy that feels very familiar to me.

— Erik Pedersen, Oc Register, 16 June 2026

Definition of melancholy

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“Cynicism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cynicism. Accessed 9 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of cynicism

noun

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