Etymologically
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sarcastic

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /sɑːˈkæs.tɪk/[1]
  • US: /sɑɹˈkæs.tɪk/[1]

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as formed from English sarcasm + -ic, on the model of pairs such as enthusiasm and enthusiastic.[2][3][4][5][6] The Oxford Dictionary of English and the Shorter Oxford derive it instead from French sarcastique, formed from sarcasme after enthousiasme and enthousiastique,[7][8] while the OED takes it from a Greek type Ancient Greek *σαρκαστικός (*sarkastikós), comparing the French word.[9][10] The noun sarcasm goes back through Late Latin sarcasmus to Ancient Greek σαρκασμός (sarkasmós, “a sneer, taunt”),[9][2][4] from σαρκάζω (sarkázō, “to tear flesh, gnash the teeth, speak bitterly”),[9][11] from σάρξ (sárx, “flesh”).[9][2][12] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster consider the Greek word probably related to an Avestan verb meaning "to cut".[4][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Characterized by sarcasm, bitterly cutting: Merriam-Webster dates the first known use to 1641,[3] while the OED's first quotation is from 1695, in J. Edwards's Discourse concerning the Old and New Testament,[9] the date Barnhart also gives.[4] Etymonline has the 1690s.[2]

Semantic evolution

English had tried several adjectives for the idea before this one took hold: sarcasmical about 1600, sarcastical in the 1640s and sarcasmous in the 1660s.[2] Sarcastic itself has kept its meaning, used both of remarks and of people given to sarcasm.[9][14] The image behind it is the Greek verb's literal sense, to tear flesh like dogs, which was weakened to biting one's lips in rage and then to speaking bitterly;[13] Merriam-Webster notes that English still speaks of "biting" and "cutting" remarks.[13][12]

Timeline

  • c. 1600 – sarcasmical, an earlier adjective.[2]
  • 1640s – sarcastical.[2]
  • 1641 – first known use of sarcastic according to Merriam-Webster.[3]
  • 1660s – sarcasmous.[2]
  • 1695 – first quotation in the OED and Barnhart.[9][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Marked by or expressing sarcasm; mocking and bitterly cutting: a sarcastic reply about the late train.[9][14][3]
  2. Given to using sarcasm: Her sarcastic uncle had a remark for every guest.[14][9]

Word family

  • sarcastically
  • sarcasticness
  • sarky

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  12. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  13. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins