/
ˈsɪnɪk/
n.
- a person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest.
▸a sceptic.
-
(Cynic)
a member of a school of ancient Greek philosophers characterized by an ostentatious contempt for wealth and pleasure.
Derivative
Etymology
C16: from L. cynicus, from Gk kunikos; prob. orig. from Kunosarges, the name of a gymnasium where Antisthenes (the founder of the school of philosophy) taught, but popularly taken to mean ‘doglike, churlish’, kuōn, kun-, ‘dog’ becoming a nickname for a Cynic.
