vicious
Americanadjective
-
vicious gossip;
a vicious attack.
- Synonyms:
- malevolent
-
They all feared his vicious temper.
-
(of an animal) having bad habits or a cruel or fierce disposition.
a vicious bull.
-
unpleasantly severe.
a vicious headache.
-
addicted to or characterized by vice; grossly immoral; depraved; profligate.
a vicious life.
- Synonyms:
- sinful, iniquitous, corrupt, abandoned
- Antonyms:
- moral
-
given or readily disposed to evil.
a vicious criminal.
-
reprehensible; blameworthy; wrong.
a vicious deception.
-
characterized or marred by faults or defects; faulty; unsound.
vicious reasoning.
-
Archaic. morbid, foul, or noxious.
adjective
-
wicked or cruel; villainous
a vicious thug
-
characterized by violence or ferocity
a vicious blow
-
informal unpleasantly severe; harsh
a vicious wind
-
characterized by malice
vicious lies
-
(esp of dogs, horses, etc) ferocious or hostile; dangerous
-
characterized by or leading to vice
-
invalidated by defects; unsound
a vicious inference
-
obsolete noxious or morbid
a vicious exhalation
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.
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
The Canadian started 2025 outside of the world's top 20, but his game - booming serve, vicious groundstrokes and supreme athleticism - came together late in the season.
From BBC
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.
