On cynicism, hypocrisy and irony
(30 March 2026)
I always hesitate when it comes to labelling someone as cynical or hypocritical, even though the difference in meaning seems clear.
CYNICISM is boasting about being, doing or saying something you know is bad, evil or wrong; HYPOCRISY is simply saying the opposite of what you do and think: like IRONY, but without the intention, in principle, of letting the audience know the speaker’s true intention and situation. Only in principle, because there is the case of the hypocrite who knows that others know the truth, know they are witnessing his hypocrisy, and he doesn’t care: such a variant of hypocrisy simply does not want to say what he really is, thinks and/or does, but is indifferent to whether others believe his — false — words or not.
Based on the foregoing, Joey Mannarino would be a cynic for boasting that his country (the USA) had provoked a coup in another (Spain) by perpetrating a terrorist attack in 1973.
I have also called Pedro Sánchez cynical, yet I am reconsidering whether his case would fall more on the spectrum of hypocritical variants.