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vicious

adjective

  1. lacking in empathy, full of vice
L11039 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈvɪʃəs/

adj

Etymology: PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English vicious, from Anglo-Norman vicious, (modern French vicieux), from Latin vitiōsus, from vitium (“fault, vice”). Equivalent to vice + -ous.

  1. Violent, destructive and cruel.
  2. Savage and aggressive.

    He had always been remarkably immune from such little ailments, and had only once in his life been ill, of a vicious pneumonia long ago at school. He hadn't the faintest idea what to with a cold in the head, he just took quinine and continued to blow his nose.

  3. Pertaining to vice; characterised by immorality or depravity.

    We may so seize on vertue, that if we embrace it with an over-greedy and violent desire, it may become vicious.

    Admiral Crawford was a man of vicious conduct, who chose, instead of retaining his niece, to bring his mistress under his own roof

name

Etymology: Originally a nickname for a vicious person.

  1. A surname.