sadism

English

Etymology

From French sadisme. Named after the Marquis de Sade, famed for his libertine writings depicting the pleasure of inflicting pain to others. The word for "sadism" (sadisme) was coined or acknowledged in the 1834 posthumous reprint of French lexicographer Boiste's Dictionnaire universel de la langue française; it is reused along with "sadist" (sadique) in 1862 by French critic Sainte-Beuve in his commentary of Flaubert's novel Salammbô; it is reused (possibly independently) in 1886 by Austrian psychiatrist Krafft-Ebing in Psychopathia Sexualis which popularized it; it is directly reused in 1905 by Freud in Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality which definitively established the word.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɪdɪzəm/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

sadism (countable and uncountable, plural sadisms)

1. (chiefly psychiatry) The enjoyment of inflicting pain or humiliation without pity.
2. Achievement of sexual gratification by inflicting pain or humiliation on others, or watching pain or humiliation inflicted on others.
3. (loosely) Deliberate or wanton cruelty, either mental or physical, to other people, or to animals, regardless of whether for (sexual) gratification.

Derived terms

• anal sadism
• enforcing sadism
• explosive sadism
• sadist
• sadistic
• sadomasochism
• spineless sadism
• tyrannical sadism
• zoosadism

Translations

psychology: the enjoyment of inflicting pain or humiliation

• Bulgarian: садизъм (bg) m (sadizǎm)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 虐待狂 (zh) (nüèdàikuáng)

• Czech: sadismus (cs) m
• Danish: sadisme (da) c
• Dutch: sadisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: sadismo
• Finnish: sadismi (fi)
• French: sadisme (fr) m
• Georgian: სადიზმი (sadizmi)
• German: Sadismus (de) m
• Greek: σαδισμός (el) m (sadismós) (sadismós)
• Hindi: परपीड़न (parpīṛan)
• Hungarian: szadizmus (hu)
• Indonesian: sadisme (id)
• Italian: sadismo (it) m
• Japanese: サディズム (sadizumu)
• Malay: kesadisan, sadisme
• Persian: سادیسم (fa) (sâdism), دگر آزاری (degar âzâri)
• Polish: sadyzm (pl) m
• Portuguese: sadismo (pt) m
• Romanian: sadism (ro) n
• Russian: сади́зм (ru) m (sadízm)
• Serbo-Croatian: sadizam (sh) m, садизам m
• Spanish: sadismo (es)
• Swedish: sadism (sv)
• Turkish: sadizm (tr), sadistlik (tr), ezezerlik
• Ukrainian: сади́зм m (sadýzm)
• Yiddish: סאַדיזם m (sadizm)

sexual gratification from inflicting pain or humiliation, or watching it inflicted

• Danish: sadisme (da) c
• Dutch: sadisme (nl) n
• Finnish: sadismi (fi)
• French: sadisme (fr) m
• Georgian: სადიზმი (sadizmi)
• Greek: σαδισμός (el) m (sadismós) (sadismós)
• Hindi: परपीड़न रति (parpīṛan rati), परपीड़न कामुकता (parpīṛan kāmuktā)
• Persian: سادیسم (fa) (sâdism)
• Polish: sadyzm (pl) m
• Portuguese: sadomasoquismo (pt) m
• Romanian: sadism (ro) n
• Serbo-Croatian: sadizam (sh) m
• Spanish: sadomasoquismo (es)
• Swedish: sadism (sv) c
• Ukrainian: сади́зм m (sadýzm)

deliberate cruelty

• Danish: sadisme (da) c
• Dutch: sadisme (nl) n
• Finnish: sadismi (fi)
• French: sadisme (fr) m
• Georgian: სადიზმი (sadizmi)
• Hungarian: szadizmus (hu)
• Serbo-Croatian: sadizam (sh) m
• Swedish: sadism (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} Sadismus (de) m

See also

• cruelty
• masochism
• schadenfreude

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French sadisme.

Noun

sadism n (uncountable)

1. sadism

Declension

declension of sadism (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) sadism	sadismul
genitive/dative	(unui) sadism	sadismului
vocative	sadismule

Swedish

Noun

sadism c

1. sadism

Declension

Declension of sadism
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	sadism	sadismen	—	—
Genitive	sadisms	sadismens	—	—

Related terms

• sadist (“sadist”)
• sadistisk (“sadistic”)

See also

• masochism (“masochism”)

References

• sadism in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• sadism in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• sadism in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)