vi·cious

(vĭsh′əs)

adj.

1. Mean-spirited or deliberately hurtful; malicious: vicious gossip.

a. Extremely violent or injurious; cruel: a vicious blow to the stomach; vicious tactics in suppressing a rebellion.

b. Marked by an aggressive disposition. Used chiefly of animals.

c. Disposed to violent or destructive behavior: a vicious dictator.

3. Severe, powerful, or intense; fierce: a vicious storm.

a. Having the nature of vice; evil, immoral, or depraved: "All men who succeed ... in finance in New York at last ... return to their native towns, assert that cities are vicious, marry their childhood sweethearts" (Sinclair Lewis).

b. Given to vice, immorality, or depravity: "The sum and substance of it was, That Oliver was a foundling, born of low and vicious parents" (Charles Dickens).

5. Faulty or defective: a forced, vicious style of prose.

[Middle English, from Old French vicieus, from Latin vitiōsus, from vitium, vice.]

vi′cious·ly adv.

vi′cious·ness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vicious

(ˈvɪʃəs)

adj

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.

[C14: from Old French vicieus, from Latin vitiōsus full of faults, from vitium a defect]

ˈviciously adv

ˈviciousness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vi•cious

(ˈvɪʃ əs)

adj.

1. addicted to or characterized by vice; immoral or evil; depraved.

2. spiteful; malicious: vicious gossip.

3. unpleasantly severe or intense: a vicious headache.

4. savage; ferocious: a vicious temper.

5. (of an animal) unruly, fierce, or of a violent disposition.

6. characterized by faults or defects; unsound: vicious reasoning.

7. morbid, foul, or noxious.

[1300–50; < Latin vitiōsus, derivative of viti(um) fault, vice¹]

vi′cious•ly, adv.

vi′cious•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	vicious - (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering; "a barbarous crime"; "brutal beatings"; "cruel tortures"; "Stalin's roughshod treatment of the kulaks"; "a savage slap"; "vicious kicks" barbarous, brutal, cruel, fell, savage, roughshod inhumane - lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion; "humans are innately inhumane; this explains much of the misery and suffering in the world"; "biological weapons are considered too inhumane to be used"
	2.	vicious - having the nature of vice evil wicked - morally bad in principle or practice
	3.	vicious - bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure; "a criminal waste of talent"; "a deplorable act of violence"; "adultery is as reprehensible for a husband as for a wife" condemnable, criminal, reprehensible, deplorable wrong - contrary to conscience or morality or law; "it is wrong for the rich to take advantage of the poor"; "cheating is wrong"; "it is wrong to lie"
	4.	vicious - marked by deep ill will; deliberately harmful; "poisonous hate"; "venomous criticism"; "vicious gossip" venomous, poisonous malicious - having the nature of or resulting from malice; "malicious gossip"; "took malicious pleasure in...watching me wince"- Rudyard Kipling

vicious

adjective

1. savage, brutal, violent, bad, dangerous, foul, cruel, ferocious, monstrous, vile, atrocious, diabolical, heinous, abhorrent, barbarous, fiendish He suffered a vicious attack by a gang of youths.
savage kind, friendly, gentle, tame, playful, docile

2. depraved, corrupt, wicked, infamous, degraded, worthless, degenerate, immoral, sinful, debased, profligate, unprincipled a vicious criminal incapable of remorse
depraved good, upright, honourable, virtuous

3. malicious, vindictive, spiteful, mean, cruel, venomous, bitchy (informal), defamatory, rancorous, backbiting, slanderous a vicious attack on an innocent woman's character
malicious complimentary, appreciative, congratulatory

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

vicious

adjective

1. Morally objectionable:

bad, black, evil, immoral, iniquitous, peccant, reprobate, sinful, wicked, wrong.

2. Characterized by intense ill will or spite:

black, despiteful, evil, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, poisonous, spiteful, venomous, wicked.

Slang: bitchy.

3. So intense as to cause extreme suffering:

cruel, ferocious, fierce, savage.

4. Showing or suggesting a disposition to be violently destructive without scruple or restraint:

barbarous, bestial, cruel, fell, feral, ferocious, fierce, inhuman, savage, truculent, wolfish.

Translations

أَثِيمقاسٍ، شِرّير، مُحْتَمَل أن يُهاجِم

krutýútočnýzlý

ondskabsfuld

bösartig boshaft böswillig

διεστραμμένος φαύλος

cruel fiero malintencionado vicioso

raju

vicieux méchant

okrutan

illviljaîur; grimmur

brutale maligno vizioso

ひどい

나쁜

niršus

ļaunsnikns

hudobenizprijenpokvarjen

illvillig

ที่ร้ายแรง

kötü zalim acımasız

xấu xa

凶恶的恶意的

vicious

[ˈvɪʃəs]

A. ADJ

1. (= brutal) [person, gang] → despiadado; [attack, assault, crime] → atroz, brutal; [animal] → agresivo, fiero
a vicious-looking knife → un cuchillo de aspecto horrorífico

2. (= malicious) [criticism, campaign] → despiadado, cruel; [remark] → malicioso
to have a vicious temper → tener muy mal genio
to have a vicious tongue → tener una lengua viperina

B. CPD vicious circle N → círculo m vicioso
to be caught in a vicious circle → estar atrapado en un círculo vicioso

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

vicious

[ˈvɪʃəs] adj

(= brutal) [person, attack, assault, murder, crime] → brutal(e); [blow] → vicieux/euse; [gang] → violent(e)

(= ferocious) [dog] → vicieux/euse

(= malicious) [remark, letter] → acerbe; [lie] → cruel(le); [campaign] → odieux/eusevicious circle n → cercle m vicieux

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

vicious

adj

animal → bösartig; dog → bissig; blow, kick, gang, attack, crime, criminal → brutal; murder → grauenhaft, brutal; campaign → bösartig, gemein; that animal can be vicious → das Tier kann heimtückisch sein; to have a vicious temper → jähzornig sein

(= nasty) → gemein, boshaft; remark → boshaft, gehässig; look → boshaft, böse; to have a vicious tongue → eine böse or spitze Zunge haben

habit → lasterhaft

(inf: = strong, nasty) headache → fies (inf), → gemein (inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

vicious

[ˈvɪʃəs] adj (attack) → brutale; (blow, kick) → dato/a con cattiveria, violento/a; (animal) → cattivo/a; (remark, criticism) → crudele; (glare) → malevolo/a, d'odio; (tongue) → velenoso/a
a vicious habit → un vizio

vicious

(ˈviʃəs) adjective

evil; cruel; likely to attack or cause harm. Keep back from that dog – it's vicious.

ˈviciously adverb

ˈviciousness noun

vicious

→ أَثِيم krutý ondskabsfuld bösartig διεστραμμένος fiero raju vicieux okrutan brutale ひどい 나쁜 wreed ondsinnet bezwzględny violento порочный illvillig ที่ร้ายแรง kötü xấu xa 恶意的

vicious

a. [ridden by vice] vicioso-a, depravado-a;

adv. viciosamente, malvadamente.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

When a woman debauched from her youth, nay, even being the offspring of debauchery and vice, comes to give an account of all her vicious practices, and even to descend to the particular occasions and circumstances by which she ran through in threescore years, an author must be hard put to it wrap it up so clean as not to give room, especially for vicious readers, to turn it to his disadvantage.

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He wished to say, "Yes, a vile, idle, vicious life!" but dared not break the silence.

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Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?

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So I presently hurled a shoe at random, and with a vicious vigor.

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"Not what you'd call a real vicious horse, but a dangerous one.

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by taking them away from their father, or by leaving them with a vicious father--yes, a vicious father....

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Every living thing in the first place is composed of soul and body, of these the one is by nature the governor, the other the governed; now if we would know what is natural, we ought to search for it in those subjects in which nature appears most perfect, and not in those which are corrupted; we should therefore examine into a man who is most perfectly formed both in soul and body, in whom this is evident, for in the depraved and vicious the body seems [1254b] to rule rather than the soul, on account of their being corrupt and contrary to nature.

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I may have gone too far; in which case I shall be careful not to trouble myself or my readers in the same way again; but when we have to do with vice and vicious characters, I maintain it is better to depict them as they really are than as they would wish to appear.

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Not that he had been disappointed as to the possible market for his horse, but that before the bargain could be concluded with Lord Medlicote's man, this Diamond, in which hope to the amount of eighty pounds had been invested, had without the slightest warning exhibited in the stable a most vicious energy in kicking, had just missed killing the groom, and had ended in laming himself severely by catching his leg in a rope that overhung the stable-board.

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I have invariably combated both these absurd assertions by quoting examples of fat people who were as mean, vicious, and cruel as the leanest and the worst of their neighbours.

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One day, then, as Allworthy was walking in his garden, the doctor came to him, and, with great gravity of aspect, and all the concern which he could possibly affect in his countenance, said, "I am come, sir, to impart an affair to you of the utmost consequence; but how shall I mention to you what it almost distracts me to think of!" He then launched forth into the most bitter invectives both against men and women; accusing the former of having no attachment but to their interest, and the latter of being so addicted to vicious inclinations that they could never be safely trusted with one of the other sex.

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Brocklehurst to apprise Miss Temple and the teachers of my vicious nature.

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