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Definitions

sadistic

[suh-dis-tik, sey-, sa-] / səˈdɪs tɪk, seɪ-, sæ- /
ADJECTIVE
cruel, perverted
Synonyms
Antonyms


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.

He said a whole-life tariff could only be given in sadistic or sexual cases, those involving abduction or a high level of premeditation.

From BBC • Feb. 27, 2026

He self-referentially calls himself “that sadistic letter-abuser, Douglas R. Hofstadter,” and there is indeed a lot of vigorous torquing of serifs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

“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 • May 9, 2025

Starring Mads Mikkelsen, the movie portrays the stoic battle of a taciturn, retired army captain in the mid-18th century as he tries to tame the hostile Jutland landscape and outwit an evil, sadistic local aristocratic.

From Reuters • Sep. 1, 2023

Some kapos were insane, some were sadistic, and some were not so bad.

From "Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps" by Andrea Warren




Vocabulary lists containing sadistic