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 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 Even if some of the social media gripes about 2K27 reflect broader cynicism of today’s world than 2004—Reddit didn’t even exist then—the financial data shows where gaming companies are now inspired to focus their energy. — Dan Bernstein, Sportico.com, 4 Sep. 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 See All Example Sentences for cynicism

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cynicism

Noun

And since Bob hasn’t managed to elevate his station in the last 26 years, suffering the indignity of dealing with a much younger boss (Blake Anderson), his desperation is understandable.

— Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026
But their primitive way of living reveals itself to rather more devastating effect when their third child is born, and Inger commits an act of unthinkable desperation.

— Guy Lodge, Variety, 16 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

The gloom lifts in one crucial scene, late in the film, in which Sandra and April sit side by side before a bright window.

— Natalia Winkelman, Variety, 16 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

In the context of suicide, hopelessness can look like acceptance at the end.

— Wendy Murphy, Boston Herald, 7 Sep. 2026
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

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 18 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of cynicism

noun

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