sadistic
Americanadjective
Usage
What does sadistic mean? Sadistic means extremely cruel or enjoying the pain of others.More specifically, sadistic can be used in the context of psychology in relation to the condition of sadism, in which a person gets sexual pleasure from other people’s pain. Sadistic can be used to describe a person or an action.Example: The dictator was known for being sadistic and merciless, enjoying the pain of the people he suppressed.
Other Word Forms
- nonsadistic adjective
- nonsadistically adverb
- sadistically adverb
- unsadistic adjective
- unsadistically adverb
Etymology
Origin of sadistic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And no wonder: You needn’t work at a fashion magazine to relate to having a sadistic boss like Meryl Streep’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada.”
“I’m not a sadistic guy that wants to make a spectator suffer. I have a lot of hope. I trust in human beings, even with their contradictions and weaknesses.”
From Los Angeles Times
“Huck Finn” was the apotheosis of Twain’s gift for truth-telling, as he exposed the sadistic oppression of Black people and made the slave Jim the hero.
From Los Angeles Times
Over his long career, Hackman won Academy Awards for portrayals of an obsessed undercover narcotics cop in “The French Connection” and a sadistic Western sheriff in “Unforgiven.”
From Los Angeles Times
IndieWire's David Ehrlich described the original footage as "so hypnotically sadistic" that the newer material struggles to compete with it.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
