sadistic

Etymology

It is formed from English sadism + -istic,^[2][3] probably modelled on German sadistisch, which is recorded from 1891.^[3][4][5] The OED analyses it as the name of the Count de Sade with the suffix -istic, after the noun or the German adjective,^[3] while Barnhart takes it as probably formed from sadist and -ic.^[5] The base noun, recorded in English from 1888, is from French sadisme,^[5][4][6] coined from the name of Donatien Alphonse François, Count de Sade (1740–1814), usually called the Marquis de Sade, whose novels describe cruel sexual practices.^[5][4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to sadism: 1892, in C. G. Chaddock's translation of Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective entered English in the medical vocabulary of sexual psychology, as a term for the pleasure some people draw from causing pain.^[5][3] The OED's definition already includes the wider sense "cruel",^[3] and the Historical Thesaurus files it both under sexual behaviour and under cruelty and savagery, all from 1892.^[7] Present-day dictionaries define it mainly as taking pleasure in the pain or humiliation of others.^[8][9] For "of or like de Sade or his writings", English has used Sadean instead.^[4] The Shorter Oxford records a rarer synonym, sadic, from the early 20th century.^[10]

Timeline

• 1892 – relating to or characterized by sadism; cruel.^[3][5][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Taking pleasure in causing pain, suffering or humiliation to others: a sadistic prison guard.^[8][9][11]
2. Relating to or characterized by sadism, especially as a sexual perversion.^[3][11]
3. Very cruel.^[3]

Word family

• unsadistic
• unsadistically

Related words

• sadism
• sadist
• masochism
• sadomasochism

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster