Entry Word: cynical

Function: adjective

Meaning: having or showing a deep distrust of human beings and their motives <so cynical that he canʼt understand why anyone would volunteer to help out at a homeless shelter>

Synonyms misanthropic, pessimistic

Related Words distrustful, mistrustful, skeptical, suspicious; derisive, mocking, sardonic, scornful; defeatist, fatalistic, negative; ironic (or ironical), sarcastic; jaded, sophisticated, worldly-wise; hard-bitten, hard-boiled, unsentimental

Near Antonyms trustful, trusting, unsuspicious; cheerful, optimistic, rose-colored; ingenuous, innocent, naive (or naïve), unsophisticated; idealistic, impractical, romantic; maudlin, mushy, saccharine, sappy, sentimental