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sardonic

sardonic is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 2 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.Forced; unnatural; insincere; hence, derisive, mocking, malignant, or bitterly sarcastic; -- applied only to a laugh, smile, or some facial semblance of gayety. Where strained, sardonic smiles are glozing still, And grief is forced to laugh against her will. Sir H. Wotton. The scornful, ferocious, sardonic grin of a bloody ruffian. Burke. Sardonic grin or laugh, an old medical term for a spasmodic affection of the muscles of the face, giving it an appearance of laughter.
  2. 2.Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a kind of linen made at Colchis.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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