Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1600-1700
Language: French
Origin: sardonique, from Greek sardonios, from sardanios; influenced by Sardonios 'Sardinian', because of a plant from Sardinia (an Italian island) which causes the face to twist into a smile

sardonic

 adjective
     
sar‧don‧ic written
showing that you do not have a good opinion of someone or something, and feel that you are better than them:
He looked at her with sardonic amusement.
—sardonically adverb
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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