Etymology
Origin of wickedness
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at wicked, -ness
Explanation
Wickedness goes way past being naughty or mischievous; it means a quality of true evil. In an old spy movie, the villain might reveal his wickedness by cackling with delight while carrying out dastardly plans. A tyrant's cruel treatment of citizens is evidence of wickedness, while literary antagonists like Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth and Voldemort from the Harry Potter series display their wickedness through many vicious actions. Wickedness and wicked come from a now-obsolete adjective, wick, meaning "bad or false," and an Old English root it shares with wizard and witch.
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.
But the townsfolk are fresh out of ideas of how to stop the disaster pressing down on them, save for one that Tom and Wyck, now allies against this unseen wickedness, plot together.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026
They all have a reason for the wickedness that they do.
From Slate ● Jan. 20, 2026
So when you’re no longer looking at yourself through that lens of wickedness, passion and all the things that I thought were negative, now I can see how they affected me.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2024
An independent review led by Richard Horwell QC, published in July 2017, concluded that: "It is human failings that brought about the collapse of the trial, not wickedness."
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2024
Yet he joined to his wickedness such strength of mind and body, that when he entered upon a military career, he rose through the ranks to become praetor of Syracuse.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
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.
