Definition of
Vicious
- (adj, all) (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
brutal beatings
cruel tortures
Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks
a savage slap
vicious kicks - (adj, all) having the nature of vice
- (adj, all) bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
a deplorable act of violence
adultery is as reprehensible for a husband as for a wife - (adj, all) marked by deep ill will; deliberately harmful
venomous criticism
vicious gossip
- (adj, all) (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
via WordNet, Princeton University
Synonyms of Vicious
barbarous, brutal, condemnable, criminal, cruel, deplorable, evil, fell, poisonous, reprehensible, roughshod, savage, venomous
Alternate forms of Vicious
Derivations: vice, viciousness
Origin of the word Vicious
- early 14c. (implied in viciously), "of the nature of vice, wicked," from Anglo-Fr. vicious, O.Fr. vicieus, from L. vitiosus "faulty, defective, corrupt," from vitium "fault" (see vice (1)). Meaning "inclined to be savage or dangerous" is first recorded 1711 (originally of animals, especially horses); that of "full of spite, bitter, severe" is … more
via Online Etymology Dictionary, ©2001 Douglas Harper
Words that sound like Vicious
v-8 juice, vac, vacuous, vague, vagus, vaisakha, vaisya, vas, vase, vaux, veg, vega, veggie, veps, vepse, vesey, vesica, vex, vibes, vice, vichy, vichyssoise, vicia, vieques, view as, vioxx, visa, visage, viscaceae, viscacha, viscose, viscous, viscus, vise, viva voce, viva-voce, vivace, vivacious, viz., vogue, voguish, voice, vouch, vouchee, vouge, vox, voyage, vx gas
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