Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Sarcastic |
SarcasticAdjective1. Expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sarcastic" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
Synonym: SarcasticSynonym: severe. (additional references) |
| Antonym: unsarcastic (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Detraction | Adjective: detracting;Verb: defamatory, detractory, derogatory, deprecatory; catty; disparaging, libelous; scurrile, scurrilous; abusive; foul-spoken, foul-tongued, foul-mouthed; slanderous; calumnious, calumniatory; sarcastic, sardonic; sarcastic, satirical, cynical. |
Disapprobation | Satirical, sarcastic, sardonic, cynical, dry, sharp, cutting, biting, severe, withering, trenchant, hard upon; censorious, critical, captious, carping, hypercritical; fastidious; sparing of praise, grudging praise. |
Discourtesy | Taint, sour, crabbed, sharp, short, trenchant, sarcastic, biting, doggish, caustic, virulent, bitter, acrimonious, venomous, contumelious; snarling; Verb: surly, surly as a bear; perverse; grim, sullen; a; peevish; (irascible). |
Disrespect | Adjective: disrespectful; aweless, irreverent; disparaging; insulting;Verb: supercilious, contemptuous, patronizing; (scornful); rude, derisive, sarcastic; scurrile, scurrilous; contumelious. |
Ridicule | Adjective: derisory, derisive; mock, mocking; sarcastic, ironic, ironical, quizzical, burlesque, Hudibrastic; scurrilous; (disrespectful). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Sarcastic |
| English words defined with "sarcastic": dry ♦ Feifer ♦ goad ♦ ironic, ironical ♦ Jules Feifer ♦ needle, nettle ♦ Sarcasmous, sarcastically, sardonically ♦ To brace sharp, To sharp up ♦ unsarcastic ♦ wry. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "sarcastic": moby ♦ netiquette ♦ rave on!. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "sarcastic": Sarcasmous. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Sarcastic" is also a word in the following language with English translations in parentheses. Romanian (acrid, biting, caustic, caustically, cynical, lashing, mordacious, sarcastic, sarcastically, sardonic, satiric, severe, sharp, sneering, tart, taunting). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Wow, a fat sarcastic Star Trek fan. You must be a devil with the ladies gee, I hate to let you down, Casanova, but no receipt, no return. (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) I'm lost in the city with an optimistic dog and a sarcastic kitty. (Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco; writing credit: Chris Hauty) She's rude sarcastic. You two should get along. (Lake Placid; writing credit: David E. Kelley) Oh, that was my sarcastic voice. (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) That sarcastic contemptuous tone that means you know everything because you're a man, and I know nothing because I'm a woman. (The Birdcage; writing credit: Jean Poiret; Francis Veber) | |
Lyrics | Sarcastic Mister know it all ("Scar Tissue"; performing artist: Red Hot Chili Peppers) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Dennis Miller | I don't know what it is, but I get pretty sarcastic in a paper hat. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Sarcastic" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 97.94% of the time. "Sarcastic" is used about 194 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 97.94% | 190 | 22,288 |
| Noun (proper) | 2.06% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Total | 100.00% | 194 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "sarcastic": be sarcastic ♦ sarcastic person ♦ sarcastic remark. Additional references. | |
| Hypenated Usage | |
Ending with "sarcastic": un-sarcastic. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
quote sarcastic | 81 |
sarcastic | 34 |
sarcastic saying | 17 |
remark sarcastic | 16 |
sarcastic humor | 16 |
ecard sarcastic | 10 |
joke sarcastic | 9 |
sarcastic greeting card | 8 |
card e sarcastic | 7 |
sarcastic card | 7 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "sarcastic"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | sarkastik (vitriolic), gojëndyrë (derisive, foul-mouthed, insulting, mocking, sardonic, scurrilous). (various references) | |
Arabic | متهكم (ironic, satiric), لاذع (acerb, acid, acrid, acrimonious, biting, bitter, bitterly, burning, caustic, cutting, harsh, hot, keen, mordant, nippy, peppery, piquant, poignant, pungent, rough, salty, savory, savoury, scathing, scorching, sharp, sharp tongued, smarting, snappish, snappy, spicy, spiteful, stinging, tart, waspish), تهكمي (ironic, ironical, quizzical, sardonic), سخري (ironic), ساخر (biting, bitter, cutting, cynic, cynical, derisive, derisory, epigram, giber, ironic, ironical, irradiant, lampooner, lampoonist, laughable, persiflage, quizzical, sardonic, saturnine, sneerer, snide, tongue in cheek, wry), المتهكم (scoffer). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | саркастичен (acerb, acerbic, epigrammatic, mordant, sarky, satiric, tart). (various references) | |
Chinese | 讽刺 (ironical, sarcasm, Sarcastical, satire, satiric, satirical). (various references) | |
Czech | sarkastický (biting, cutting, mordant, snide), uštìpaèný (acrimonious, derisive, mocking, scathing, sneering, snide). (various references) | |
Dutch | sarcastisch (acid). (various references) | |
Esperanto | sarkasma. (various references) | |
Farsi | نیشدار (Poignant, Punctual), زهرخنده دار, طعنه امیز (Bitter, Nippy, Sardonic). (various references) | |
Finnish | pisteliäs (cutting), pistävä (cutting, pricked, pungent), ivallinen (derisive, ironic, mocking). (various references) | |
French | sarcastique (sarcastical). (various references) | |
Frisian | sarkastysk (acid). (various references) | |
German | sarkastisch (acid, pungent, sarcastically, sarky). (various references) | |
Greek | σαρκαστικόσ (cutting, mordant, taunting, vitriolic). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ל'ל' י (derisive, derisory, mordant, quizzical, sardonic), עוקצ י (cuspidal, cutting, pungent, waspish), סרקסטי. (various references) | |
Hungarian | szarkasztikus (sarky), gúnyos (biting, bland, derisive, derisory, have a fling at sy, ironic, ironical, mordant, sarky, satirical, scornful, to cover sy with ridicule). (various references) | |
Indonesian | sarkastis. (various references) | |
Italian | sarcastico (biting, derisive, mordacious, sneering). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 冷笑的 (derisive), 口が悪い (having a sharptongue). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | くちがわるい (having a sharptongue), れいしょうてき (derisive). (various references) | |
Korean | 빈 거리" (Sarcastical). (various references) | |
Manx | lunagh (contemptuous, mocker, reproachful, rude, rude person, slanderer, slandering, slanderous), grinderagh (grumble, mock, satirical, satirist, snarl, taunting), gallvergagh (ferociously angry, spiteful), gallvargagh, craidagh (jeering, mocking, sneering). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arcasticsay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | sarcástico (acrid, backhanded, ironical, pungent, sardonic, scathing, sneering, squint eyed). (various references) | |
Romanian | sarcastic (acrid, biting, caustic, caustically, cynical, lashing, mordacious, sarcastically, sardonic, satiric, severe, sharp, sneering, tart, taunting), usturãtor (acrid, biting, burning, cutting, mordant, scathing, scorching, shrewd, smart, smarting, stinging), muşcãtor (acid, acrid, acrimonious, biting, caustic, mordant, peppery, snappish), batjocoritor (abuser, cynical, derisive, flouting, jeering, jeeringly, merry, mocker, mocking, sardonic, scoffer, scoffing, sneering). (various references) | |
Russian | саркастический (mordant, wisecracking). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | sarkastičan (snide, taunting), zajedljiv (acidulous, astringent, biting, cutting, mordant, poignant, pointed, tart, taunting, vitriolic). (various references) | |
Spanish | sarcástico (cutting, snide). (various references) | |
Swedish | spydig (jeering, snide), sarkastisk (acid, caustic, mordant). (various references) | |
Thai | ช่างเสีย"สี. (various references) | |
Turkish | iğneli (barbed, mordacious, mordant, pointed, scathing, spinose, spinous, with a needle, with needles, with pins), iğneleyici (biting, cutting, mordacious, mordant, nippy, pricking, sarky, stinging, vitriolic, wry), alaylı (biting, ironic, ironical, jeering, ranker, sardonic, sarky, tongue in cheek). (various references) | |
Ukranian | саркастичний (acrimonious, mordant, sarcastical, scoffing), глузливий (derisive, derisory, quizzical, sarcastical, satirical). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | mỉa mai (ironic, ironical, sardonic, severse), chế nhạo (derisive, gibingly, jeeringly, mockingly, raspberry), chân biếm. (various references) | |
Welsh | crafog (cutting), coeglyd (vain). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "sarcastic": sarcastically. (additional references) | |
| |
"Sarcastic" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: psarcastic, saarcastic, saarcasttic, sacastic, Sacrati, sarcasin, sarcastica, Sarcastics, sarcastik, sarcatic, sarchastic, sarcoptic, sarkastic, sracastic, surcastic. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "sarcastic" (pronounced sÄrka"stik) |
| 5 | -a" s t i k | bombastic, drastic, dynastic, ecclesiastic, elastic, enthusiastic, fantastic, gymnastic, iconoclastic, inelastic, interscholastic, monastic, onomastic, plastic, scholastic, thermoplastic, unenthusiastic. |
| 4 | -s t i k | acoustic, agnostic, altruistic, anachronistic, antagonistic, artistic, atavistic, atheistic, autistic, ballistic, capitalistic, caustic, characteristic, chauvinistic, coloristic, cystic, deterministic, diagnostic, domestic, drumstick, dualistic, euphemistic, evangelistic, expressionistic, fatalistic, feudalistic, futuristic, hedonistic, holistic, humanistic, idealistic, imperialistic, impressionistic, individualistic, jingoistic, journalistic, legalistic, linguistic, logistic, majestic, masochistic, materialistic, mechanistic, militaristic, monopolistic, moralistic, mystic, narcissistic, nationalistic, naturalistic, novelistic, oligopolistic, opportunistic, optimistic, pantheistic, paternalistic, patristic, pessimistic, pluralistic, polytheistic, primitivistic, propagandistic, puristic, realistic, relativistic, ritualistic, rustic, sadistic, sensationalistic, simplistic, socialistic, statistic, stylistic, surrealistic, synergistic, terroristic, uncharacteristic, unrealistic, voyeuristic. |
| 3 | -t i k | acetic, acrobatic, aerobatic, aesthetic, alphabetic, amniotic, analytic, anesthetic, Antarctic, antibiotic, antic, anticlimactic, antiseptic, aortic, apathetic, apocalyptic, apologetic, apoplectic, aquatic, arctic, aristocratic, arithmetic, aromatic, arthritic, ascetic, asthmatic, astronautic, asymptomatic, athletic, attic, authentic, autocratic, automatic, axiomatic, bureaucratic, catalytic, cathartic, chaotic, charismatic, chiropractic, cinematic, climactic, climatic, cosmetic, critic, cryptic, cultic, democratic, dendritic, despotic, diabetic, diagrammatic, dialectic, diamagnetic, didactic, dietetic, diplomatic, diuretic, dogmatic, dramatic, eclectic, ecliptic, ecstatic, electrolytic, electromagnetic, electrostatic, emblematic, emetic, empathetic, emphatic, energetic, enigmatic, enzymatic, epigenetic, epileptic, erotic, erratic, exotic, extragalactic, fanatic, ferromagnetic, fiberoptic, frantic, frenetic, galactic, genetic, geomagnetic, gigantic, granitic, halophytic, hectic, hemolytic, hepatic, heretic, hermaphroditic, homeostatic, homiletic, hyperkinetic, hypnotic, idiomatic, idiosyncratic, idiotic, kinesthetic, kinetic, lactic, lymphatic, magnetic, mathematic, melodramatic, monochromatic, narcotic, neritic, neurotic, numismatic, operatic, optic, orthodontic, pancreatic, paralytic, paramagnetic, parasitic, parasympathetic, parthenogenetic, pathetic, patriotic, pectic, pedantic, peptic, peripatetic, phonetic, phosphatic, pneumatic, poetic, porphyritic, posttraumatic, pragmatic, prismatic, problematic, programmatic, prophetic, prophylactic, prostatic, prosthetic, psychoanalytic, psychosomatic, psychotherapeutic, psychotic, quixotic, rheumatic, robotic, romantic, schematic, semantic, semiautomatic, semiotic, septic, skeptic, static, sycophantic, symbiotic, sympathetic, symptomatic, synthetic, systematic, tactic, technocratic, thematic, theocratic, therapeutic, thrombolytic, transatlantic, traumatic, triptych, unapologetic, unauthentic, undemocratic, undiplomatic, unpatriotic, unsympathetic. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-c-c-i-r-s-s-t" | |
-2 letters: arctics, aristas, ascaris, carcass, caritas, casitas, racists, sacrist, tarsias. | |
-3 letters: arctic, arista, carats, casita, cassia, crasis, crissa, crista, racist, riatas, scarts, sistra, sitars, stairs, tarsia, tiaras, triacs. | |
-4 letters: acari, airts, arias, arsis, assai, astir, atria, cacas, cacti, carat, carts, casas, casts, circa, cists, crass, raias, riata, sacra, saris, satis, scars, scart, scats, sitar, stair, stars, stirs, stria, tarsi, tiara, trass, triac, tsars. | |
-5 letters: acta, acts, airs, airt, aits, arcs, aria, arts, asci, caca, cars, cart, casa, cast, cats, cist, cris, raia, rats, rias, sacs, sari, sati, scar, scat, sics, sirs, sits, sris, star, stir, tars, tass, tics, tsar. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-c-c-i-r-s-s-t" | |
+2 letters: catachresis. | |
+3 letters: charismatics. | |
+4 letters: aristocracies, caricaturists, practicalness, sacrosanctity, sarcastically, stratocracies. | |
+5 letters: carcinomatoses, carcinomatosis, classificatory, pantisocracies, saccharimeters, saccharinities, scarifications, trisaccharides. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)53 61 72 63 61 73 74 69 63 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)... .- .-. -.-. .- ... - .. -.-. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010011 01100001 01110010 01100011 01100001 01110011 01110100 01101001 01100011 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)S a r c a s t i c |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0053 0061 0072 0063 0061 0073 0074 0069 0063 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)536784696785867569 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Quotations: Spoken 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Expressions 10. Expressions: Internet 11. Translations: Modern 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Orthography 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
