sardonicism

Sardonicism is form of wit or humour with a degree of cynicism or disdainfulness. It is more biting and negative than sarcasm, yet not entirely malicious. A sardonic person might participate in funny yet scornful mocking, or express uncomfortable truth in a clever way. The style of expression can be both spoken and written, and is featured in a literary genre.

==Origin== Both the concept and the etymology of the root word "sardonic" are of uncertain origin, but appear to stem from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. The 10th-century Byzantine Greek encyclopedia Suda traces the word's earliest roots to the notion of grinning () in the face of danger, or curling one's lips back at evil.