不相信別人的動機（心裡的態度）
這是核心畫面本身：假設好聽的理由底下都是私心。
distrustful of motives · adjective · C2
Not willing to believe that people have good, honest, or real reasons for what they do.
憤世嫉俗
核心畫面
A way to hold it: someone who assumes that behind every kind act there is a selfish reason — and who is not to say so.
一個人聽到任何好聽的說法，第一反應都是「他背後想拿什麼？」。別人捐錢，他想的是節稅；別人道歉，他想的是止血。這不是單…更多收起
一個人聽到任何好聽的說法，第一反應都是「他背後想拿什麼？」。別人捐錢，他想的是節稅；別人道歉，他想的是止血。這不是單純的悲觀，而是一種特定的假設：人做事的真正理由永遠比表面上難看。這個假設對內就是不相信別人的動機，對外就是自己做事也不再假裝有更高的理由。From the word’s history
The word comes from the ancient Greek Cynics, philosophers whose name was linked to kunikos 'dog-like'; the modern sense of distrusting people's motives grew out of their reputation for scorning ordinary manners and pretensions.
這個字來自古希臘的犬儒學派（Cynic），字根 kunikós 意思是「像狗一樣的」。這群哲學家以蔑視社會禮節與虛偽門面出名，被人用「狗」來形容。今天的 cynical 已經和哲學無關，但那份「看穿並嘲笑漂亮門面」的態度留了下來——這條線索有助於記住：這個字的重點一直是不信任表面的說法。
Wiktionary — 'cynical': 1542, from Latin cynicus (Ancient Greek κυνικός kunikós, 'dog-like') + -al
Two branches
自己也不裝了（做出來的行為）
同一個假設從「看別人」轉成「自己照做」：既然理由都是藉口，那我也就直接為自己的利益行動。
selfishly unscrupulous · adjective · C2
Not caring if something is unfair or may hurt someone, when you are only trying to get something for yourself.
不擇手段
原始詞典資料6 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Cynicaladj
- 1
Of or relating to the Cynics, a sect of Ancient Greek philosophers who believed virtue to be the only good and self-control to be the only means of achieving virtue.
cynicaladj/ˈsɪnɪkəl/
- 1
Of or relating to the belief that human actions are motivated only or primarily by base desires or selfishness.
- I hope it is no very cynical asperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received.
- 2
Skeptical of the integrity, sincerity, or motives of others.
- 3
Bitterly or jadedly distrustful or contemptuous; mocking.
- He seldom talked, and when he did, it was usually to make some cynical remark-for instance, he would say that God had given him a tail to keep the flies off, but that he would sooner have had no tail and no flies.
- On any given day, those who get their news from the loudest voices on the right—Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Breitbart News—are bombarded with partisan propaganda, conspiracy theories, and cynical rage-bait.
- 4
Showing contempt for accepted moral standards by one's actions.
- When he, at Neergard's cynical suggestion, had consented to exploit his own club[…]and had consented to resign from it to do so, he had every reason to believe that Neergard meant to either mulct them heavily or buy them out. In either case, having been useful to Neergard, his profits from the transaction would have been considerable.
- 5
raremedicinesciencesLike the actions of a snarling dog, especially in reference to facial nerve paralysis.
- Towards noon, he experienced convulsive movements; the extremities became stiff, the pulse extremely small, and he died during an attack of cynical spasm.
- On the contrary, in woman, the cynical spasm, though felt with as much, or even more violence than the other sex, is not followed with the same deleterious effects, and may be repeated much oftener without any unfavorable consequences.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。