Both Uses of
cynical
in
The Age of Innocence
- The bank had continued to take in money for a whole day after its failure was inevitable; and as many of its clients belonged to one or another of the ruling clans, Beaufort's duplicity seemed doubly cynical.†
Chpt 28 *
- As it was—and especially after the object of her nocturnal visit to Mrs. Manson Mingott had become known—her cynicism was held to exceed his; and she had not the excuse—nor her detractors the satisfaction—of pleading that she was "a foreigner."†
Chpt 28
Definition:
-
(cynical) someone who expects the worst -- especially of people (such as expecting them to be selfish and lie)