sardonic
adjective
sar·don·ic
sär-ˈdä-nik 
: disdainfully or skeptically humorous : derisively mocking
a sardonic comment
Examples of sardonic in a Sentence
"The Great War," used interchangeably with "the First World War" (so named in 1918 by a sardonic English journalist, who knew it would not be the last such conflict) …
—
Benjamin Schwarz, Atlantic, May 1999
They have that brand of sardonic humor special to people up against it: black and wry and shocking …
—Doris Lessing, New Yorker, 16 Mar. 1987
In a story by Flaubert, this spreading of cloths to save the carpet would be observed with a sardonic eye; in Lawrence it is bleakly practical.
—Hugh Kenner, A Sinking Island, 1987
The movie is a sardonic look at modern life.
a sardonic little jab that made her visitor quiet and subdued for the rest of the night
Benjamin Schwarz, Atlantic, May 1999
They have that brand of sardonic humor special to people up against it: black and wry and shocking …
—Doris Lessing, New Yorker, 16 Mar. 1987
In a story by Flaubert, this spreading of cloths to save the carpet would be observed with a sardonic eye; in Lawrence it is bleakly practical.
—Hugh Kenner, A Sinking Island, 1987
The movie is a sardonic look at modern life.
a sardonic little jab that made her visitor quiet and subdued for the rest of the night
Recent Examples on the Web
The playful sneers of the Scherzo gave way to a snarling, gnashing Intermezzo, the orchestra and especially the low brass giving it their sardonic all.
—Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 2 Mar. 2025
Which can pose a challenge to a director, who must ride a Shepard balance board, teetering between the somber and the sardonic, the real and the metaphorical.
—Maya Phillips, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025
There are graphic novels with droll, sardonic dialogue.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 21 Feb. 2025
Another is his employer, Maloney, a flamboyantly sardonic publisher whose pornographic magazine has grown popular in defiance of (or perhaps due to) the country’s censorship laws.
—Sam Sacks, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sardonic
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Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 2 Mar. 2025
Which can pose a challenge to a director, who must ride a Shepard balance board, teetering between the somber and the sardonic, the real and the metaphorical.
—Maya Phillips, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025
There are graphic novels with droll, sardonic dialogue.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 21 Feb. 2025
Another is his employer, Maloney, a flamboyantly sardonic publisher whose pornographic magazine has grown popular in defiance of (or perhaps due to) the country’s censorship laws.
—Sam Sacks, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sardonic
Cite this Entry
“Sardonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sardonic. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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