Sardonic

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sardonic \Sar*don"ic\, a. [F. sardonique, L. sardonius, Gr. ?,
     ?, perhaps fr. ? to grin like a dog, or from a certain plant
     of Sardinia, Gr. ?, which was said to screw up the face of
     the eater.]
     Forced; unnatural; insincere; hence, derisive, mocking,
     malignant, or bitterly sarcastic; -- applied only to a laugh,


     smile, or some facial semblance of gayety.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Where strained, sardonic smiles are glozing still,
           And grief is forced to laugh against her will. --Sir H.
                                                    Wotton.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           The scornful, ferocious, sardonic grin of a bloody
           ruffian.                                 --Burke.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Sardonic grin} or {Sardonic laugh}, an old medical term for
        a spasmodic affection of the muscles of the face, giving
        it an appearance of laughter.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sardonic \Sar*don"ic\, a.
     Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a kind of linen made at
     Colchis.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sardonic
       adj : disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking;
             "his rebellion is the bitter, sardonic laughter of all
             great satirists"- Frank Schoenberner; "a wry pleasure
             to be...reminded of all that one is missing"- Irwin
             Edman [syn: {wry}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  18 Moby Thesaurus words for "sardonic":
     Rabelaisian, caustic, contemptuous, corrosive, cynical, derisive,
     derisory, disdainful, dry, ironic, ironical, jeering, mocking,
     sarcastic, satiric, saturnine, sneering, wry