Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Sardonic"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sardonic \Sar*don"ic\, a.
Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a kind of linen made at
Colchis.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sardonic \Sar*don"ic\, a. [F. sardonique, L. sardonius, Gr. ?,
?, perhaps fr. ? to grin like a dog, or from a certain plant
of Sardinia, Gr. ?, which was said to screw up the face of
the eater.]
Forced; unnatural; insincere; hence, derisive, mocking,
malignant, or bitterly sarcastic; -- applied only to a laugh,
smile, or some facial semblance of gayety.
Where strained, sardonic smiles are glozing still, And
grief is forced to laugh against her will. --Sir H.
Wotton.
The scornful, ferocious, sardonic grin of a bloody
ruffian. --Burke.
{Sardonic grin} or {laugh}, an old medical term for a
spasmodic affection of the muscles of the face, giving it
an appearance of laughter.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
sardonic
adj : disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking;
"his rebellion is the bitter, sardonic laughter of all
great satirists"- Frank Schoenberner; "a wry pleasure
to be...reminded of all that one is missing"- Irwin
Edman [syn: {wry}]
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