Enjoying or getting pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation on others.
Named after the Marquis de Sade, an 18th-century French writer known for writings about extreme cruelty. The suffix -ic makes it an adjective form.
The term entered psychology to describe a very real personality disorder, but the Marquis de Sade himself was actually imprisoned for his actual crimes, not just his writing—his books were literally too shocking for even 18th-century France.
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