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 Constant vigilance against the presence of AI inevitably begets cynicism and threatens to corrode the teacher-student relationship that is at the heart of education. — Dónal Gill, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026 This wasn’t a real protection strategy; this was a symbolic update cloaked in the appearance of safety that ultimately breeds cynicism toward the brand. — Titania Jordan, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2026 Like Warhol, Rouy makes work balancing on the razor’s edge between sincerity and cynicism. — David Lê, Curbed, 8 Sep. 2026 Yet their latest album as Immersion is a work of craft and caring, full of loose but meticulous grooves, open-hearted electronic melodies, and optimism that’s laced with cynicism but not sunk by it. — Reed Jackson, SPIN, 7 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cynicism

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cynicism

Noun

What new extremes of desperation will working artists sink to in this economy?

— Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Sep. 2026
As with all of our best and worst inventions, its motive has always been desperation.

— Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026

Definition of desperation

Noun

This year's report finds that levels of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness among high schoolers have fallen in recent years – from 42% in 2021, to 40% in 2023 and 33% in 2025.

— Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, 23 Sep. 2026
Scott is tremendous and tragic in the film, maybe more so in its moments of dark humor than in its final beats of near operatic sadness.

— Joe Reid, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of sadness

Noun

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack in separate statements and expressed sorrow over the deaths.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026
In direct contradiction to Herzog, Zamir’s office stated that Azaria had never expressed sorrow or remorse about the killing.

— Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of sorrow

Noun

They are finally revealed as the head-lamps of a gang of thieves, robbing a church, caught closer up, their faces occasionally emerging from the gloom.

— John Hopewell, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026
Inside, we were whisked away to a world of rain and candles and velvet and creepy houses and stormy, witchy gloom.

— Danielle Pergament, Allure, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of gloom

Noun

This year's report finds that levels of persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness among high schoolers have fallen in recent years – from 42% in 2021, to 40% in 2023 and 33% in 2025.

— Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, 23 Sep. 2026
Understanding the scope of human suffering and hopelessness in our world stirs a strong internal conflict between empathy and pragmatism.

— Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of hopelessness

Noun

Phrasemaking is perhaps no contribution to the intellectual heritage of the race, but phrasemakers do snap us out of lethargy, and frequently out of ingrowing pessimism, which may be worse than frenzy.

— J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Sometimes the pessimism on a name gets overdone and the stock price recovery begins in advance of a narrative change.

— Josh Brown,Sean Russo, CNBC, 21 Sep. 2026

Definition of pessimism

Noun

The question for me is whether or not Lloyd will also manage to capture the melancholy of a deceptively serious play, notwithstanding its reputation.

— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
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

Definition of melancholy

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“Cynicism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cynicism. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of cynicism

noun

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