Vicious Definition & Meaning

Home » How Do You Spell Vicious » Vicious Definition & Meaning

Maybe your like

  • American
  • British
  • Other Word Forms
  • Etymology
  • Examples
  • Related Words
    • Synonyms vicious American [vish-uhs] / ˈvɪʃ əs /

    adjective

    1. spiteful; malicious.

      vicious gossip;

      a vicious attack.

      Synonyms: malevolent

    2. savage; ferocious.

      They all feared his vicious temper.

    3. (of an animal) having bad habits or a cruel or fierce disposition.

      a vicious bull.

    4. unpleasantly severe.

      a vicious headache.

    5. addicted to or characterized by vice; grossly immoral; depraved; profligate.

      a vicious life.

      Synonyms: sinful, iniquitous, corrupt, abandoned Antonyms: moral

    6. given or readily disposed to evil.

      a vicious criminal.

    7. reprehensible; blameworthy; wrong.

      a vicious deception.

    8. characterized or marred by faults or defects; faulty; unsound.

      vicious reasoning.

    9. Archaic. morbid, foul, or noxious.

    vicious British / ˈvɪʃəs /

    adjective

    1. wicked or cruel; villainous

      a vicious thug

    2. characterized by violence or ferocity

      a vicious blow

    3. informal unpleasantly severe; harsh

      a vicious wind

    4. characterized by malice

      vicious lies

    5. (esp of dogs, horses, etc) ferocious or hostile; dangerous

    6. characterized by or leading to vice

    7. invalidated by defects; unsound

      a vicious inference

    8. obsolete noxious or morbid

      a vicious exhalation

    "Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

    Other Word Forms

    • unvicious adjective
    • unviciously adverb
    • unviciousness noun
    • viciously adverb
    • viciousness noun

    Etymology

    Origin of vicious

    First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English or directly from Anglo-French, from Latin vitiōsus, equivalent to viti(um) “fault, defect, vice” ( vice 1 ) + -ōsus -ous

    Example Sentences

    Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

    On one occasion, the crowd was particularly vicious and made me cry.

    From The Wall Street Journal

    Koke opened the scoring with a vicious strike into the top corner when the ball fell for him outside the area, for his 50th Atletico goal.

    From Barron's

    Reading the astonishingly vicious responses directed at me, I felt something like detachment.

    From Salon

    "The people who refused to condemn Candace's truly vicious attacks - and some of them are speaking here tonight - are guilty of cowardice," Shapiro said.

    From BBC

    Then there are the big things that are off, like Nina’s wild mood swings and the vicious gossip about her mental health among the other Stepford wives of the area.

    From Los Angeles Times

    Related Words

    • atrocious
    • barbarous
    • cruel
    • dangerous
    • depraved
    • diabolical
    • ferocious
    • heinous
    • infamous
    • monstrous
    • nefarious
    • perverse
    • savage
    • vile
    • violent
    • wicked

    Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

    Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

    Tag » How Do You Spell Vicious