| English Dictionary |
VICIOUS
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| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does vicious mean?
• VICIOUS (adjective)
The adjective VICIOUS has 4 senses:
1. (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
2. having the nature of vice
3. bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
4. marked by deep ill will; deliberately harmful
Familiarity information: VICIOUS used as an adjective is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
Synonyms:
barbarous; brutal; cruel; fell; roughshod; savage; vicious
Context example:
vicious kicks
Similar:
inhumane (lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion)
Derivation:
viciousness (the trait of extreme cruelty)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having the nature of vice
Synonyms:
evil; vicious
Similar:
wicked (morally bad in principle or practice)
Derivation:
vice (a specific form of evildoing)
viciousness (the trait of extreme cruelty)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure
Synonyms:
condemnable; criminal; deplorable; reprehensible; vicious
Context example:
adultery is as reprehensible for a husband as for a wife
Similar:
wrong (contrary to conscience or morality or law)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Marked by deep ill will; deliberately harmful
Synonyms:
Context example:
vicious gossip
Similar:
malicious (having the nature of or resulting from malice)
Derivation:
viciousness (the trait of extreme cruelty)
Context examples
"May I ask, sir," said Summerlee, with vicious calm, "in what capacity you take it upon yourself to issue these orders?"
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
That fellow was vicious, he decided.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous and magnificent, yet so vicious and base?
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Dr Richard Bevan Jones added, “There may be a vicious circle where cell damage triggers inflammation, which in turn leads to further cell damage.”
(Inflammation in the brain linked to several forms of dementia, University of Cambridge)
’Old ’ard, Bill, for ’e looks vicious.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
There seemed nothing vicious in them.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
His small eyes burned with a vicious and bitter light, while he roared with fury at sight of Buck.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
He ended a string of abuse by a vicious backhander, which I failed to entirely avoid.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Into his snarl he incorporated all that was vicious, malignant, and horrible.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
In turn, some of the proinflammatory cytokines produced by the inflammatory activation alter the clock genes themselves, setting in motion a vicious circle that fosters an exaggerated inflammatory response.
(New study sheds fresh light on the genetic mechanisms involved in sepsis, the leading cause of death in ICUs, University of Granada)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"A man must make his own arrows." (Native American proverb, Winnebago)
"When a door opens not to your knock, consider your reputation." (Arabic proverb)
"Heaven helps those who help themselves." (Corsican proverb)