Sar*don"ic (?), a. [F. sardonique, L. sardonius, Gr. , , perhaps fr. to grin like a dog, or from a certain plant of Sardinia, Gr. , which was said to screw up the face of the eater.] 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 ∨ laugh, an old medical term for a spasmodic affection of the muscles of the face, giving it an appearance of laughter.
© Webster 1913.
Sar*don"ic, a. Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a kind of linen made at Colchis.
© Webster 1913. | 
