noun
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a female fox
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a quarrelsome or spiteful woman
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vixen
First recorded in 1375–1425; southern late Middle English, replacing earlier northern Middle English fixen, from Old English fyxe, feminine of fox fox (compare fyxen “pertaining to a fox,” Old High German fuhsin “vixen”)
Explanation
A vixen is a female fox. Or it can be a woman with a temper. If you really want to insult a woman who is a little short on patience, call her a vixen. She won’t like it. Somewhere along the line the word vixen came to mean a hot-headed or ill-tempered person. Nowadays vixen is often used as a derisive term for an unpleasant or mean woman. Vixen also gets used frequently in descriptions of female film characters. In this way it doesn’t really mean that the character is bad tempered. As slang, to call someone a vixen means that she's sexy and flirtatious, a label she may or may not like.
Vocabulary lists containing vixen
A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Pax
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The Old Willis Place
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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.
It’s a book about your wife, Edie, it’s a book about your kids and your grandkids, and about your dog, Vixen.
From Slate • Jul. 30, 2024
He discussed them over coffee at the kitchen table in his Washington apartment, with his guide dog, Vixen, looking on attentively.
From New York Times • May 27, 2024
As the camp's musical director, Britt Lightning, the bassist for the band Vixen, shares Franklin's passion for the difference that the experience makes in the campers' musical lives.
From Salon • Jul. 22, 2023
Catalina Pride Celebration 26 miles across the sea, festivities include a Pride walk and live performances by all-female cover band Pulp Vixen, pop-rockers KingQueen, DJ Asha and others.
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2023
“Hey, the Voodoo Vixen came to me, not the other way around,” he says, stuffing a whole piece of toast in his mouth.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
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.
