Other forms: cynics
A cynic is somebody who assumes people always act from self-interest. An old cynic, call me a cynic, the cynic's view.
The modern sense is a long way from the original: the Cynics were Greek philosophers who rejected wealth and convention and lived in public poverty, and Diogenes is the famous one. The name comes from the Greek for dog, meant as an insult.
1nouncynicSomebody who assumes people always act from self-interest.
“A cynic would say he only gave the money to charity to get his picture in the paper.”
cynic is a person.
The Greek word means dog-like: they lived in the street like dogs and said what they thought of everybody. A cynic still expects the worst of people.
hooks ontodog
Greek kynikos means dog-like, from kyon, a dog, applied to the philosophers as a jibe about their manner of living.
Ancient Greek
κυνικός
Latin
cynicus
Middle French
cynique
Middle English
cynike
English, today
cynic
Built from
From Middle English cynike, cynicke, from Middle French cynique, from Latin cynicus, from Ancient Greek κυνικός, originally derived from the portico in Athens called Κυνόσαργες, the earliest home of the Cynic school, later reinterpreted as being derived from κύων (“dog”), in a contemptuous allusion to the uncouth and aggressive manners adopted by the members of the school.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA