sadistic
/səˈdɪstɪk/adjective
sadistic is spelled S-A-D-I-S-T-I-C: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, sadistic means “Delighting in or feeling pleasure from the pain or humiliation of others” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in sadistic?
| Letters | 8: S-A-D-I-S-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is sadistic?
Sadistic appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sadistic?
- /səˈdɪstɪk/
Sadistic has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sadistic.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-NaomiAmethyst-sadistic.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with sadistic
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of sadistic
- more sadistic comparative
- most sadistic superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sadistic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Delighting in or feeling pleasure from the pain or humiliation of others.
- 2
Of behaviour which takes pleasure in the pain or humiliation of others.
- 3
colloquialCausing a high degree of pain or humiliation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sadistic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense of a person:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sadique |
| German | sadistisch |
| Portuguese | sádico |
| Spanish | sádico, ensañarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sadistic come from?
From sadist + -ic.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).