Sarcastic Meaning
/sɑːˈkæs.tɪk/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjContaining sarcasm.
adjHaving the personality trait of expressing sarcasm.
Sentence Examples
Tom is very sarcastic.
You don't have to be sarcastic.
I can't tell if Tom is being sarcastic or not.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She gave a ____ reply, pretending to thank him for his terrible advice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her ____ tone made it obvious she was not impressed by his excuse.
Word Origin & History
Either from sarcasm + -astic or from French sarcastique, from French sarcasme, from Late Latin sarcasmus, ultimately from Ancient Greek σαρκασμός (sarkasmós, “sarcasm”), itself from Ancient Greek σάρξ (sárx, literally “meat, flesh”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The unhappy Jew eyed their countenances and that of Front-de-Bœuf, in hope of discovering some symptoms of relenting; but that of the Baron exhibited the same cold, half-sullen, half-sarcastic smile which had been the prelude to his cruelty; […]"
— 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
"The sarcastic bitterness of his conversation disgusted those who were more inclined to accuse his licentiousness than their own degeneracy, and who were unable to conceive the strength of those emotions which are concealed by the jests of the wretched, and by the follies of the wise."
— 1850, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Machiavelli:
"He smiled to himself, and threw a glance of fine sarcastic meaning towards Hepzibah."
— 1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
"In men’s clubs such celebrations were, though expiring, less uncommon; but either the natural shyness of the softer sex, or a sarcastic attitude on the part of male relatives, had denuded such women’s clubs as remained (if any other did) or this their glory and consummation."
— 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter II, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC:
"Her eyes slanted a little... and were sometimes full of fiery determination and sometimes dull and opaque. Her expression was never altogether amiable; was often, indeed, distinctly sullen, or, when she was animated, sarcastic."
— 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She gave a ____ reply, pretending to thank him for his terrible advice.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Her ____ tone made it obvious she was not impressed by his excuse.