All 11 Uses
cynical
in
The American, by Henry James
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- —almost cynical.†
Chpt 5
- Then Newman reflected that these are mighty mysteries, that possibly he himself was indeed that baleful and barely mentionable thing, a cynic, and that his manner of considering the treasures of art and the privileges of life was probably very base and immoral.†
Chpt 5cynic = someone who expects the worst -- especially of people (such as expecting them to be selfish and lie)
- It is not supposable that he intended a satire upon Babcock's own asceticism, for this would have been a truly cynical stroke.†
Chpt 5 *
- But Bellegarde's confidences greatly amused him, and rarely displeased him, for the generous young Frenchman was not a cynic.†
Chpt 7cynic = someone who expects the worst -- especially of people (such as expecting them to be selfish and lie)
- Newman continued to see his friends the Tristrams with a good deal of frequency, though if you had listened to Mrs. Tristram's account of the matter you would have supposed that they had been cynically repudiated for the sake of grander acquaintance.†
Chpt 10
- "I am not a cynic; I am simply an observer," Valentin rejoined.†
Chpt 11cynic = someone who expects the worst -- especially of people (such as expecting them to be selfish and lie)
- He was turning away when Valentin stopped him, looking at him with a brilliant, softly-cynical glance.†
Chpt 12
- It had cost Newman some disgust to be forced to assent to Valentin's somewhat cynical interpretation of the old man's philosophy, and, though circumstances seemed to indicate that he had not given himself up to a noble despair, Newman thought it very possible he might be suffering more keenly than was apparent.†
Chpt 15
- These were very witty, and, for a young woman who six months before had been painting the most artless madonnas, startlingly cynical.†
Chpt 15
- You are growing cynical, you shock me and pain me.†
Chpt 25
- "Very good," said Mrs. Tristram, good-naturedly or cynically, as may be thought most probable.†
Chpt 25
Definitions:
-
(1)
(cynical) someone who expects the worst -- especially of people (such as expecting them to be selfish and lie)
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)