Cynicism is the belief that people act only from selfish motives. Deep cynicism, public cynicism, a note of cynicism.
It is distrust of stated motives rather than of facts, which is why cynicism about politics is so hard to argue with — every good act can be explained as calculation. It is a settled attitude rather than a mood. The original Cynics were Greek philosophers who rejected convention and lived plainly, and their name comes from the Greek for dog-like.
1nouncynicismThe belief that people act only from selfish motives.
“After years in politics, his cynicism was so deep that he trusted nobody's promises.”
cynicism is an attitude of distrust.
Cynic plus -ism, from Greek kynikos, dog-like, from kyon, a dog. The philosophers were called dogs for living without shame or comfort, and took the name.
Ancient Greek
κυνικός
Latin
cynicus
Middle French
cynique
Middle English
cynike
English
cynic
English, today
cynicism
Built from
From Cynicism, cynic + ism; compare cynism. cynic comes 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