vicious

(vĭsh'əs)
adj.

1. Having the nature of vice; evil, immoral, or depraved.
2. Given to vice, immorality, or depravity.
3. Spiteful; malicious: vicious gossip.
4. Disposed to or characterized by violent or destructive behavior. See synonyms at cruel.
5. Marked by an aggressive disposition; savage. Used chiefly of animals.
6. Severe or intense; fierce: a vicious storm.
7. Faulty, imperfect, or otherwise impaired by defects or a defect: a forced, vicious style of prose.
8. Impure; foul.

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

viciously vi'cious·ly adv.
viciousness vi'cious·ness n.

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adjective

1. Morally objectionable: bad, black, evil, immoral, iniquitous, peccant, reprobate, sinful, wicked, wrong. See right/wrong.
2. Characterized by intense ill will or spite: black, despiteful, evil, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean², nasty, poisonous, spiteful, venomous, wicked. Slang bitchy. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude.
3. So intense as to cause extreme suffering: cruel, ferocious, fierce, savage. See help/harm/harmless, kind/cruel.
4. Showing or suggesting a disposition to be violently destructive without scruple or restraint: barbarous, bestial, cruel, fell², feral, ferocious, fierce, inhuman, savage, truculent, wolfish. See kind/cruel.

adj

Definition: corrupt, wrong
Antonyms: gentle, good, nice, right

adj

Definition: nasty, hateful
Antonyms: friendly, kind, nice, pleasant

mod. great; excellent.  Man, this burger is really vicious.

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IN BRIEF: Likely to attack or bite. Also: Mean and cruel.

There is no pleasure in life equal to that of the conquest of a vicious habit. — Unknown.

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A vice in animals, most commonly mentioned about stallions; aggression directed at people.

For a list of words related to vicious, see:

• Cold, Unfriendly, Irritable, or Cruel
• Troublesome, Negative, Irresponsible, or Unpleasant

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See words rhyming with "vicious."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Vicious.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - ondartet, lastefuld, umoralsk, skadelig, mangelfuld, arrig, modbydelig

idioms:

• vicious circle    ond cirkel
• vicious spiral    spiralen uden ende

Nederlands (Dutch)
venijnig, hatelijk, verdorven, gebrekkig/ ongeschikt, niet puur, giftig, wild, fel, slecht, met grillig gedrag (dier)

Français (French)
adj. - malfaisant, brutal, malveillant

idioms:

• vicious circle    cercle vicieux
• vicious spiral    cercle vicieux

Deutsch (German)
adj. - boshaft, bösartig, verdorben

idioms:

• vicious circle    Teufelskreis
• vicious spiral    Teufelskreis

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - άγριος, μοχθηρός, κακοήθης, διεστραμμένος, διεφθαρμένος, ακόλαστος, αχρείος, φαύλος, εσφαλμένος (για επιχείρημα), (καθομ.) έξοχος, θαυμάσιος, φίνος

idioms:

• vicious circle    διάλληλος κύκλος, φαύλος κύκλος, (ιατρ.) επιπλοκή
• vicious spiral    φαύλος κύκλος

Italiano (Italian)
cattivo, malvagio, maligno, malevolo, virulento, offensivo, immorale

idioms:

• vicious circle/spiral    circolo vizioso

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - viciado, mau, vicioso

idioms:

• vicious circle/spiral    círculo vicioso/espiral viciosa

Русский (Russian)
порочный, вредный, злой

idioms:

• vicious circle/spiral    порочный круг

Español (Spanish)
adj. - vicioso, depravado, pervertido, cruel, rencoroso, atroz, horrible

idioms:

• vicious circle    círculo vicioso
• vicious spiral    espiral viciosa

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - ond, lastbar, dålig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
邪恶的, 品性不端的

idioms:

• vicious circle    恶性循环
• vicious spiral    恶性螺旋形上升, 恶性循环

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 邪惡的, 品性不端的

idioms:

• vicious circle    惡性循環
• vicious spiral    惡性螺旋形上升, 惡性循環

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 품행이 나쁜, 악의 있는, 버릇이 고약한

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 悪意のある, 危険な, 癖の悪い, どう猛な, 誤りのある, ひどい, 悪徳の, 不道徳な, 不完全な

idioms:

• vicious circle/spiral    悪循環, 循環論法

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) شرير, فاسد, قاس, , معيب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮רע, אכזרי, מרושע, בלתי-מוסרי, מושחת, פגום, משובש, לקוי‬

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