Vicious Meaning
/ˈvɪʃəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjViolent, destructive and cruel.
adjSavage and aggressive.
Sentence Examples
The answer leads us to a vicious circle.
The rubber band broke with a vicious snap.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ dog from next door bit the mailman twice without any reason.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The dog was quite ____ and it started barking loudly as soon as we approached the front gate of the house today.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1922, Michael Arlen, “2/9/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:
"Admiral Crawford was a man of vicious conduct, who chose, instead of retaining his niece, to bring his mistress under his own roof"
— 1814, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park:
"A murrain on you, Reverend Apse/I hope you get caught in a vicious moral lapse."
— 1930, Ogden Nash, Lines to Be Mumbled at Ovington's:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ dog from next door bit the mailman twice without any reason.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The dog was quite ____ and it started barking loudly as soon as we approached the front gate of the house today.