as in critics
a person who distrusts other people and believes that everything is done for selfish reasons
a cynic who believes that nobody does a good deed without expecting something in return
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Recent Examples of cynics
On the other hand, skeptics and cynics tend to be insistent right now that the clean-up activity is not going to last very long.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Travis Kelce knows what the cynics might think of his relationship with Taylor Swift — two of the most famous people in America just happen to match up perfectly?
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 12 Aug. 2025
Erudite cynics like Karl Rove have written that gerrymandering has been around as long as there have been politicians and districts and that public officials invariably become inured to their own hypocrisy.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 10 Aug. 2025
Smarmy cynics will call them foolish for their foolhardy ambitions.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
All one needs is to read the headlines today, 45 years down the road, to see that sometimes cynics have a point.
—George Monastiriakos, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024
Into this void emerge the cynics and the snake-oil merchants, the dreamers, the circumventers, the guileful peddlers of One Weird Tricks.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 16 Dec. 2024
Until then, the industry must live with cynics carping from the sidelines.
—Ni Tao, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2024
Did the Megalopolis cynics show up last night?
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 4 Oct. 2024
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Travis Kelce knows what the cynics might think of his relationship with Taylor Swift — two of the most famous people in America just happen to match up perfectly?
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 12 Aug. 2025
Erudite cynics like Karl Rove have written that gerrymandering has been around as long as there have been politicians and districts and that public officials invariably become inured to their own hypocrisy.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 10 Aug. 2025
Smarmy cynics will call them foolish for their foolhardy ambitions.
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
All one needs is to read the headlines today, 45 years down the road, to see that sometimes cynics have a point.
—George Monastiriakos, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024
Into this void emerge the cynics and the snake-oil merchants, the dreamers, the circumventers, the guileful peddlers of One Weird Tricks.
—Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 16 Dec. 2024
Until then, the industry must live with cynics carping from the sidelines.
—Ni Tao, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2024
Did the Megalopolis cynics show up last night?
—Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 4 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cynics
Noun
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The exchange with the radio host went too far even for some of Mamdani’s Democratic critics, who condemned the conversation as Islamophobic.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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John Ruskin, the greatest of architectural critics, observed that a nation writes its history in many books, but that the book of its buildings is the most enduring.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But if the productions would’ve filmed in the state even without qualifying for incentives — as some naysayers to the tax credit program’s cap increase have said — the numbers likely will hover around their current levels.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Oct. 2025
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His response to those naysayers?—
Eric Andersson,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Worries are particularly high about companies in the artificial-intelligence industry, where pessimists see echoes of the 2000 dot-com bubble that imploded.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
13 Oct. 2025
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For the pessimists, Coreweave is Lucent or Nortel.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
28 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cynics.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cynics. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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