viciousadj.
/ˈvɪʃəs/, U.S. /ˈvɪʃəs/ I. Characterized by depravity or spite, and related uses.
1. Of habits, practices, etc.: of the nature of vice; contrary to moral principles; depraved, immoral, bad.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > wrongdoing > corruption > [adjective]
sickc960
foulOE
unwholec1000
thewlessa1327
corrupt1340
viciousc1340
unwholesomec1374
infecta1387
rustyc1390
unsound?a1400
rottenc1400
rotten-heartedc1405
cankereda1450
infectedc1449
wasted1483
depravate?1520
poisoned1529
deformed1555
poisonous1555
reprobate1557
corrupted1563
prave1564
base-minded1573
tainted1577
Gomorrhean1581
vice-like1589
depraved1593
debauched1598
deboshedc1598
tarish1601
sunk1602
speckled1603
deboist1604
diseased1608
ulcerous1611
vitial1614
debauchc1616
deboise1632
pravous1653
depravea1711
unhealthy1821
scrofulous1842
septic1914
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > [adjective] > having evil habits or vicious > of the nature of vice
viciousc1340
vice-like1589
tarish1601
vitial1614
α.
β. 1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 426 How Donaldus..wes crownit King of Scottis, and of his vitius Lyfe.1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xviii. 21 [He] changed his good maners and vertues into most vitious tyrannies.1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. ii. xi. 45 Thence come..many times vitious Habits, customes, ferall Diseases.c1670 T. Hobbes Dial. Com. Laws (1681) 7 How can a man be indicted of Avarice, Envy, Hypocrisie or any other vitious Habit till it be declared?1700 M. Prior Carmen Sæculare 15 Some [Societies] that to Morals shall recal the Age, And purge from vitious Dross the sinking Stage.a1763 W. Shenstone Wks. Verse & Prose (1764) I. 54 To fire with vitious hopes a modest heir.1791 E. Burke Let. to Member Nat. Assembly 32 Though his practical and speculative morals were vitious in the extreme.1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. v. ii. 370 His character was vitious and weak.c1340 R. Rolle Prose Treat. 15 Righte als before þe lykynges in þe sensualite ware fleschely, vayne, and vecyous.., righte so now þay ere made gastely, and clene.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 430 Þe mor part of men, bi her viciose lijf, ben combred in þis heresye.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 111 He is so ferforth Amourous, He not what thing is vicious Touchende love.
c1420 J. Lydgate Assembly of Gods 2097 From hys gloryous syght thus he vs estraungeth, For our vycyous lyuyng, thorough owre owne foly.
c1430 J. Lydgate Minor Poems (Percy Soc.) 70 O loode-sterre of al goode governaunce! Alle vicious lustes by wisdom to represse.
1535–6 Act 27 Hen. VIII c. 28 §1 Ther [sc. monks'] vycyous lyvyng shamelesly encreasseth & augmentith.
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. bij Dissolute lyuynge, licentious talke, and such other vicious behauoures.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage iv. ix. 391 Richard Iohnson caused the English, by his vicious liuing, to bee worse accounted of then the Russes.
1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding ii. xxi. 130 He..who prefers the short pleasures of a vicious Life upon any consideration.
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. i. iii. 50 Vitious Actions considered as mischievous to Society, should be punished.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. viii. 32 The Marquis pursuing her with insult and vicious passion.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece V. xliii. 249 Interpreted by his enemies as a proof of unmanly luxury and vicious habits.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 13 Plato attempts to identify vicious pleasures with some form of error.
2. † b. Const. of. Obsolete.
a. Of persons: addicted to vice or immorality; of depraved habits; profligate, wicked.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil person > [adjective]
unseelyOE
illa1200
unwrast?c1225
wrackc1375
wronga1382
viciousc1386
naughtyc1460
society > morality > moral evil > [adjective] > immoral or unethical
unlawfula1387
viciousc1386
immoral1660
unmoralized1668
non-moral1858
unethic1871
unethical1871
messy1914
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > [adjective] > having evil habits or vicious
viciousc1386
rampant1812
α.
β. c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 527 Voidis me noght of vitius,..Ne deme no dishonesty in your derfe hert.1562 N. Winȝet Certain Tractates (1888) I. 44 He causis sumtyme vitious or tyrane princes..to haue dominioun aboue vs.1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 161 (margin) Jn the beginning of his regyne a gude Prince eftirwarde vitious.1628 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 3) ii. iii. vii. 330 Themistocles..was a most deboshed and vitious youth.1660 J. Milton Readie Way Free Commonw. 17 Monarchs..whose aim is to make the people, wealthy..but otherwise softest, basest, vitiousest, servilest.1678 R. L'Estrange tr. Of Happy Life xi. 144 in Seneca's Morals Abstracted (1679) Drunkenness..does not make Men Vitious, but it shews them to be so.1755 E. Young Centaur iv. 200 My less vitious companions fell frequent around me; and dismal was their fall.c1386 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 473 Alþouhe Nero were as vicious As fende þat liþe ful lowe adoune.
c1400 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) iv. xxxv. 83 Vpon theues and morderers,..mysprowde men and vicious they shalle be fyers in jugement.
c1450 Mirk's Festial 253 For yche good man ys loþe forto be yn company wyth a vycyous man.
1483 Rolls of Parl. VI. 240/2 Personnes insolent, vicious, and of inordinate avarice.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. xxxiiiv A vicious prince doth muche more hurte with his pernicious example to other, then to hymself by his peculier offence.
1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man v. 518 Such as he found rich & vicious, he would depriue them from the Senate.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. iv. 629 He saith, that the Armouchiquois are a great people, but haue no adoration. They are vicious and bloudie.
1652 R. Loveday tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Cassandra iii. 161 I have known indeed many of the viciousest persons lead a long life with sweetnesse and contentment.
1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. ii. 33 Mankind is in this Sense naturally vicious, or vicious by Nature.
1766 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women I. i. 10 There are foolish and vicious women.
1793 T. Holcroft tr. J. C. Lavater Ess. Physiognomy (abridged ed.) xxxi. 164 Vicious men resemble valuable paintings which have been destroyed by varnish.
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab vii. 91 Every soul on this ungrateful earth, Virtuous or vicious,..Shall perish.
1862 W. M. Thackeray Adventures of Philip I. v. 83 I know his haunts, but I don't know his friends, Pendennis... I don't think they are vicious, so much as low.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People ix. §1. 589 Vicious as the stage was, it only reflected the general vice of the time.
ΚΠ
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. ii. pr. v. 47 Þe whiche seruauntes yif þei ben vicious of condiciouns it is a greet charge and a destruccioun to þe house.
1453 Coventry Leet Bk. 278 Yf eny officers fro this tyme forward be founde vicious of his body, that then he be put oute of his office in eny wise.
a1464 J. Capgrave Abbreuiacion of Cron. (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 92 He was vicious of lyuyng, a hunter outeragious.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 328 Vyciouse of conversacyon.
1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes Prol. f. A jv The man that is vitious of his personne..deserveth to be banished.
1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1556/1 Some Princes basterd,..high minded, full of reuenge, vitious of his body.
c. absol. with the.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > wrong conduct > [noun] > immoral conduct or habits > vicious person(s)
vicious1390
Gomorrheana1529
Neronist1593
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 226 He putte awey the vicious And tok to him the vertuous.
1536 G. Wishart in Misc. Wodrow Soc. 18 And by all meanes compell and reproue the faultie and vicious.
c1571 E. Campion Two Bks. Hist. Ireland (1963) i. v. 19 In whiche vertue..how farr the best excell, so farr in glotonie and other hatefull crymes the vitious..are worse then to bad.
1673 O. Walker Of Educ. (ed. 2) ii. i. 211 Most men having greater aversenes to the incompliant then the vitious.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 16. ¶3 If I attack the Vicious, I shall only set upon them in a Body.
1782 V. Knox Ess. (1819) I. xii. 71 With the vicious you must be vicious.
a1806 H. K. White Remains (1807) II. 279 She..has found, by bitter experience, that the vicious..are devoid of all feeling but that of self-gratification.
1863 Biogr. Sk. E. Fry 72 Her example of devotedness, in the care of the wretched and vicious, was emulated with blessed effect.
d. the vicious one, ? the Evil One. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > a devil > the Devil or Satan > [noun]
devileOE
Beelzebubc950
the foul ghosteOE
SatanOE
warlockOE
SatanasOE
worsea1200
unwinea1225
wondc1250
quedea1275
pucka1300
serpenta1300
dragon1340
shrew1362
Apollyon1382
the god of this worldc1384
Mahoundc1400
leviathan1412
worsta1425
old enemyc1449
Ruffin1567
dismal1570
Plotcocka1578
the Wicked One1582
goodman1603
Mahu1603
foul thief1609
somebody1609
legiona1616
Lord of Flies1622
walliman1629
shaitan1638
Old Nicka1643
Nick1647
unsel?1675
old gentleman1681
old boy1692
the gentleman in black1693
deuce1694
Black Spy1699
the vicious one1713
worricow1719
Old Roger1725
Lord of the Flies1727
Simmie1728
Old Scratch1734
Old Harry1777
Old Poker1784
Auld Hornie1786
old (auld), ill thief1789
old one1790
little-good1821
Tom Walker1833
bogy1840
diabolarch1845
Old Ned1859
iniquity1899
1713 Ld. Shaftesbury Notion Hist. Draught Judgm. Hercules i. §2 He is wrought, agitated, and torn by contrary Passions. 'Tis the last Effort of the vitious-one, striving for possession over him.
3. † b. Of a person: holding faulty or wrong opinions. Obsolete.
a. Falling short of, or varying from, what is morally or practically commendable; reprehensible, blameworthy, mischievous.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > rebuke or reproof > [adjective] > worthy of rebuke
reprovablea1382
reprehensiblec1384
viciousc1386
reprobable?a1475
reprehendablea1500
rebukeful1530
rebukable1551
chastisable1611
castigable1716
c1386 G. Chaucer Melibeus ⁋18 He that is irous and wroth..may not speke but blameful thinges, and with his vicious wordes he stireth other folk to anger and to ire.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 123 Thair vicious wordis and vanitie, Thair tratling tungis.
1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour iii. xxi. sig. fv All thoughe I dispraysed nygarshippe & vicious scarcitie,..I desyre nat to haue..meates for any occasion to moche sumptuous.
a1575 G. Gascoigne Glasse of Gouernem. iii. ii. sig. Fiiv To bee opinionate of him selfe is vitious.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 47 James..thinkand it was wicious to denude the auld herietaig of ane house [etc.].
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 65 It had beene vicious To haue mistrusted her. View more context for this quotation
1649 J. Milton Tenure of Kings 1 Being slaves within doores, no wonder that they strive..to have the public State conformably govern'd to the inward vitious rule, by which they govern themselves.
1692 M. Prior Ode Imitation Horace ii See the Repenting Isle Awakes, Her Vicious Chains the generous Goddess breaks.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 159. ⁋7 A timidity which he himself knows to be vicious.
1780 W. Cowper Let. 18 Mar. (1979) I. 325 The love of Power seems as natural to Kings, as the desire of Liberty is to their Subjects; the excess of either is vicious, & tends to the ruin of both.
1825 T. Jefferson Autobiogr. in Wks. (1859) I. 36 Our legislation, under the regal government, had many very vicious points.
1845 J. R. McCulloch Treat. Taxation i. iv. 115 We look upon every system of taxation as radically vicious that sets the interest and the duty of individuals at variance.
1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight viii. 107 Young people often acquire the vicious habit of reading with the book held close to the eyes.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > error in belief or opinion > [adjective] > erring in opinion or belief
mislevingc1390
erroneous1512
mismeaning1532
errorious1543
wide1547
deceived1569
errant1609
mislearned1642
pseudodoxalc1648
pseudodox1650
vicious1657
heterodox1658
1657 J. Trapp Comm. Psalms v. 26 Pope John 22 held the morality of the soule, and was otherwise erroneous and vitious.
4. in extended use.1814 Ld. J. Russell in S. Walpole Life Ld. J. Russell (1889) I. iii. 75 He [Napoleon] has a dusky grey eye, which would be called vicious in a horse.
a. Of animals (esp. horses): Inclined to be savage or dangerous, or to show bad temper; not submitting to be thoroughly tamed or broken-in.In quot. 1728 in figurative context, referring to persons.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > temperament > [adjective] > vicious or bad-tempered
jadish1590
unlucky1678
vicious1711
fratched1847
jady1873
smoky1899
1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks II. iv. 30 Tho we may vulgarly call an ill Horse vitious; yet we never say of a good-one,..that he is worthy or virtuous.
1728 J. Swift Intelligencer (1729) No. 5. 45 People in Power may..drive them through the hardest and deepest Roads..and will be sure to find them neither rusty nor vicious.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth II. 363 Those [horses] naturally belonging to the country, are very small and vicious.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth IV. 319 Although in its native wildness, it is said to be fierce and vicious, this [nylghau] seemed pleased with every kind of familiarity.
1818 A. Ranken Hist. France IV. iv. iii. 267 A vicious animal, having injured any person, was forfeited.
1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. vi. 195 Look at that bay horse rearing bolt upright; what a vicious one!
1892 J. A. Henderson Ann. Lower Deeside 156 Philip, being flung by a vicious horse, likewise succumbed.
b. Full of malice or spite; malignantly bitter or severe.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > spitefulness > [adjective]
teenfulOE
atteryc1175
ondfula1200
maliciousa1250
doggedc1300
enviousc1330
venoma1350
spitous?a1366
despitousc1374
heinous?a1400
venomyc1400
sinister1411
sputousc1420
doggish?a1425
cankered?a1439
doggya1450
sinistrous1460
spity1481
despiteful1488
spiteful1490
despiteous?1510
viperious?1510
peevisha1522
maliceful1522
envyful1530
viperinec1540
viperous?1542
vipered1560
uncanny1596
dogged-sprighted1600
maliced1602
ill-minded1611
virulent1613
ill-hearteda1617
doleful1617
spitish1627
splenial1641
litherlya1643
venomsome1660
slim1674
viper1721
vipereal1750
viperish1755
vicious1825
waspish1855
viperian1866
viperan1877
cattish1883
catty1886
bitchy1928
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > [adjective]
loathOE
teenfulOE
nithefulOE
ondfula1200
maliciousa1250
doggedc1300
enviousc1330
venomousa1340
venoma1350
spitous?a1366
despitousc1374
heinous?a1400
unkindlya1400
venomyc1400
sinister1411
sputousc1420
doggish?a1425
cankered?a1439
doggya1450
sinistrous1460
spity1481
despiteful1488
spiteful1490
despiteous?1510
viperious?1510
peevisha1522
envyful1530
viperous1535
viperinec1540
vipered1560
bad-minded1588
uncanny1596
dogged-sprighted1600
toothsome1601
maliced1602
ill-minded1611
virulent1613
ill-hearteda1617
doleful1617
spitish1627
ill-meaning1633
splenial1641
litherlya1643
venomsome1660
slim1668
cat-witted1672
vipereal1750
viperish1755
méchant1813
vicious1825
maliceful1840
mean1841
waspish1855
viperian1866
viperan1877
cattish1883
catty1886
bad mind1904
bitchy1908
1825 J. Jennings Observ. Dial. W. Eng. 81 Vitious, spiteful, revengeful.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 11 The dwarf..being vicious, old and irritable,..Made answer sharply that she should not know.
1908 G. Tyrrell in M. D. Petre Autobiogr. & Life G. Tyrrell (1912) II. xvii. 348 Three nasty vicious letters against the poor Baron in the Tablet.
c. transferred. Of weather: severe, inclement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > [adjective] > severe or violent (of weather or elements)
retheeOE
strongOE
stithc1100
snella1400
woodc1400
outrage?a1425
violentc1425
sternc1449
strainable1497
rigorous1513
stalwart1528
vehement1528
sore1535
sturdy1569
robustious1632
severe1676
beating1702
shaving1789
snorting1819
wroth1852
wrathy1872
snapping1876
vicious1882
1882 J. Longmuir & D. Donaldson Jamieson's Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. (rev. ed.) IV. 695/2 Vitious weather.
1902 J. Buchan Watcher by Threshold i. 81 The weather seemed more vicious than ever.
II. Characterized by defect or disease, and related uses.† 8. Of a part or a function of the body: Morbid, diseased; irregular. Obsolete.
5.
a. Law. Marred, or rendered void, by some inherent fault or defect; not satisfying legal requirements or conditions; unlawful, illegal.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > illegality > [adjective] > legally invalid or faulty
vicious1393
void1433
naughtc1449
irrite1482
frustrate1497
null1542
bad1613
inofficial1632
null and void1651
unfirm1660
uncurrent1702
invalid1768
inept1818
inoperative1885
1393 in Collectanea Topographica & Genealogica (1836) III. 257 To ensele the same forsaid vicious fenyd chartre.
1561 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 174 I ressavit the gudis libellit immediatlie fra the saidis Cantis eftir the spoliatioun thairof, knawing the same to be spulyeit and vicious.
a1575 N. Harpsfield Treat. Divorce Henry VIII (1878) (modernized text) 44 The act being vicious and nought at the beginning, cannot be by tract of time confirmed.
1765 H. Walpole Castle of Otranto iii I have consented to put my title to the issue of the sword—does that imply a vitious title?
1880 J. Muirhead tr. Gaius Institutes iv. 339 Nor can there be any accession in favour of a party whose own possession is vitious, i.e. acquired from his opponent violently, clandestinely, or in defiance of the recal of a grant during pleasure.
1880 J. Muirhead Inst. of Gaius & Rules of Ulpian Digest 513 In the ordinary case it was lawful to use force to eject a vitious possessor.
b. vicious intromission, vicious intromitter (see quot. 1838 and intromission n. 2). Scots Law.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > illegal use of another's property
misconverting1601
conversion1615
superintromission1670
vicious intromission1678
vicious intromission1773
society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > specific offences > [noun] > illegal use of another's property > one who
vicious intromitter1678
1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. i. 203 If it be proved that he was actually denuded, that will liberat him from vitious intromission.
1696 London Gaz. No. 3228/2 Act anent Vitious Intromettors.
1747 in Further Minutes of Evid. Nairne Peerage (1874) 149 in Sessional Papers House of Lords (H.L. D) XII. 199 Universal and vitious intromitters with his goods and gear.
1765–8 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. iii. ix. §49 Though vitious intromission be a delict, it may be referred to oath.
1765–8 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. iii. ix. §52 Before he be cited by any creditor as a vitious intromitter.
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 529 The term vitious intromission is applied exclusively to the heir's unwarrantable intromission with the moveable estate of the ancestor.
a1856 G. Outram Lyrics (1887) 95 (E.D.D.) I then attempted Vitious Intromission, And was immediately conveyed to prison.
a1856 G. Outram Lyrics (1887) 216 (E.D.D.) Vitious Intromitter.
6. Impaired or spoiled by some fault, flaw, blemish, or defect; faulty, defective, imperfect, bad; corrupt, impure, debased:† d. Of a person: wrong, mistaken. Obsolete.
a. Of language, style, spelling, etc. Also transferred of writers.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > incorrectness of language > [adjective]
foula1400
unproperc1443
bada1522
tarry1579
vicious1589
brokena1616
tortious1644
solecistical1654
unlawful1729
solecistic1806
unidiomatica1822
anidiomatical1826
murdered1876
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > inelegance > [adjective] > incorrect
dissolute1566
licentious1589
vicious1589
incorrect1672
libertine1760
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxi. 208 It hath bene said before how..a good figure may become a vice, and..a vicious speach go for a vertue in the Poeticall science.
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 208 He shall have the honour to purge his country of a vitious phrase.
1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scintillans (ed. 2) ii. Pref. sig. A.4v The complaint against vitious verse..is of some antiquity in this Kingdom.
1695 H. Wharton in Laud's Wks. (1853) V. 371 Although the orthography be vicious (a matter common to many learned men of that time).
1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks I. ii. 145 Whatever Quarter we may give to our vicious Poets, or other Composers of irregular and short-liv'd Works.
1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands I. 141 His mode of writing was vicious, rhetorical, antithetical, and forced.
1883 D. H. Wheeler By-ways of Lit. 100 It is believed that the Welsh-Keltic manuscripts are unusually vicious in the texts.
b. Logic. Of arguments, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [adjective] > fallacious
inartificial1588
illegitimate1600
vicious1605
unvalida1657
paralogical1658
paralogistic1677
incompetent1833
paralogic1860
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Nn2 The Induction which the Logitians speake of..; their fourme of Induction, I say is vtterly vitious and incompetent. View more context for this quotation
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. iv. 16 If this fallacy be largely taken, it is committed in any vitious illation, offending the rules of good consequence. View more context for this quotation
1697 tr. F. Burgersdijck Monitio Logica ii. viii. 40 If from true premisses follows what is false, it is a sign that the form of the syllogism is vitious.
1774 T. Reid Aristotle's Logic v. §1. 219 The form [of syllogisms] lies in the necessary connection between the premises and the conclusion; and where such a connection is wanting, they are said to be informal, or vicious in point of form.
1856 P. E. Dove Logic Christian Faith v. i. 290 We have..departed from the region of mind and spirit and introduced the natural method where the natural method is utterly vicious and illegitimate.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic vii. 189 It is not difficult to prove..that arguments are vicious only when they fail to observe this method, and are always good when it is observed.
c. In general use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > imperfection > [adjective] > in specific way: defective or faulty
defaultyc1390
defectivea1398
defaultive1398
imperfectc1400
faultive1496
defectuous1550
defectious?1566
defaulted1580
defectual1582
defected1589
defectible1612
vicious1638
unfixed1643
hip-shotten1648
defectuose1677
flawy1712
off-colour1876
flawful1881
faultsome1891
trick1961
rogue1962
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients 228 The uttermost on either side is vicious.
1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 4 A vitious figure of the head is known by sight.
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture II. 90 b Rightly supposing that the truth must lie in some medium between these two vitious extremes.
1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires ii. iii. 35 Here the rude chizzel's rougher strokes I trac'd; In flowing brass a vicious hardness found.
1846 Art-union Oct. 285 The foundations of the bridge were originally vicious.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xxi. 611 A wooden model of that edifice, the finest specimen of a vicious style, was sent to Kensington for his inspection.
1880 Fraser's Mag. May 672 Thus the country's money becomes thoroughly vicious: it breaks down in its most essential quality.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > conjecture, guessing > [adjective] > given to conjecture > wrongly
viciousa1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 150 Though I perchance am vicious in my ghesse. View more context for this quotation
7. † b. Harmful, noxious. Obsolete. rare.
a. Foul, impure, noxious, morbid. ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > causing ill health
vicious1597
sickly1604
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > foulness or filth > [adjective]
blackOE
rotea1382
lousyc1386
unwashed?a1390
fulsomec1390
filthy?c1400
rankc1400
leprousa1425
sicka1425
miry1532
shitten?1545
murrain1575
obscene1597
vicious1597
ketty1607
putrid1628
putredinous1641
foede1657
fulsamic1694
carrion1826
foul1842
shitty1879
scabrous1880
scummy1932
pukey1933
shitting1950
gungy1962
grungy1965
shithouse1966
grot1967
bogging1973
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. 1168 Berries..full of clammie or vicious moisture.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 188 Theyr liuer is very vitious, and causeth the whole body to be of ill temperament.
1641 J. Milton Of Reformation 55 Thou..that art but a bottle of vitious and harden'd excrements.
1656 J. Smith Compl. Pract. Physick 49 The vicious matter must be evacuated.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 117 Here from the vicious Air, and sickly Skies, A Plague did on the dumb Creation rise. View more context for this quotation
1831 J. F. South tr. A. W. Otto Pathol. Anat. 73 The last object of pathological anatomy is the consideration of vicious contents..which have no organic connexion with the animal body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > [adjective] > harmful or injurious
litherc893
scathefulc900
orneOE
teenfulOE
atterlichc1050
evilc1175
wicka1250
scathela1300
deringa1325
unkindc1330
harmfula1340
ill1340
wicked1340
shrewdc1380
noisomea1382
venomed1382
noyfulc1384
damageousc1386
infectivea1398
unwholesomea1400
annoying?c1400
mischievous1414
damnablec1420
contagiousc1430
mischievable?a1439
damagefulc1449
damageable1474
unhappy1474
nuisable1483
nocible1490
nuisible1490
nuisant1494
noxiousa1500
nocent?c1500
hurtful1526
sinistral1534
nocive1538
offendent1547
offensivea1548
dangerous1548
naughtya1555
dispendious1557
offensible1575
wrackful1578
baneful1579
hindersome1580
scandalizing1593
damnifiable1604
taking1608
toadish1611
illful1613
nocivousc1616
mischieving1621
nocuous1627
obnoxious1638
nocumentous1644
vicious1656
nocumental1657
abnoxious1680
dungeonable1691
offending1694
hurtsomea1699
nociferous1706
sinister1726
damnific1727
hazardous1748
slaughtering1811
damaging1856
damnous1870
lethal1942
1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso (1674) i. x. 12 Those Shops wherein vitious things are sold.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > [adjective] > in state of ill health or diseased > of parts
sick1340
infirma1616
vicious1615
wronged1634
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 304 Who euer saw a conception, although it were vitious and illegitimate, which was not couered with a Filme as it were with a Garment?
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica vii. ii. 342 The vicious excesse in the number of fingers and toes. View more context for this quotation
1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch 373 The five Members and their Intestines being changed twice five times by five vitious Pulses.
1733 G. Cheyne Eng. Malady ii. vii. 185 A vitious Liver seems to be one of the primary..Causes of Nervous Distempers.
9. vicious circle.
a. Logic. (See sense 6b and circle n. 19.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [noun] > logical fallacy > vicious circle
circle1646
tautology1659
vicious circlec1792
vicious cycle1846
circulus vitiosus1902
c1792 Encycl. Brit. X. 69/1 He runs into what is termed by logicians a vicious circle.
1812 R. Woodhouse Elem. Treat. Astron. viii. 52 This seems to be something like arguing in a vicious circle.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. 209 It may seem to be arguing in a vicious circle to have recourse to observation for any part of those..conclusions.
1865 J. B. Mozley 8 Lect. Miracles iv. 76 The whole evidence of revelation becomes a vicious circle.
1876 E. Mellor Priesthood iv. 161 The authority of the law is demanded, and he [Cardinal Wiseman] cites the disputed passage. A more palpable and vicious circle was never devised.
b. Pathology. A morbid process consisting in the reciprocal continuation and aggravation of one disorder by another.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > types > [noun] > vicious circle
vicious circle1883
circulus vitiosus1902
1883 J. M. Duncan Clin. Lect. Dis. Women (ed. 2) x. 78 There is, in this disease, what is sometimes called a vicious circle; and I shall have, in the course of this lecture, to point out to you several instances of this vicious circle.
c. gen. A situation in which action and reaction intensify each other; a self-perpetuating process of aggravation. Similarly vicious spiral, in which the ill-effects are cumulative. Cf. spiral n. 2d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > unceasing
vicious circle1839
vicious spiral1940
1839 H. Holland Med. Notes 100 Thus the practice proceeds, in a vicious circle of habit, from which the patient is rarely extricated without..injury to his future health.
1892 H. James Notebks. (1947) 130 The whole situation works in a kind of inevitable rotary way—in what would be called a vicious circle.
1929 London Aphrodite IV. 316 We are forced back into intellectual vicious-circles of self-scorn, and that is too dostoevskian.
1940 M. Nicholson How Britain's Resources are Mobilized (Oxf. Pamphlets on World Affairs No. 30) 24 The result, when supplies of goods are short, is to bid up prices, thus raising the cost of living, inspiring demands for increased wages and starting the ‘vicious spiral’ of inflation.
1958 Spectator 11 July 60/2 All stress disorder is subject to this vicious-spiral rule.
1965 Listener 11 Nov. 741/2 It is sometimes necessary to enact laws against racism as a first step towards breaking a vicious circle.
1975 Times 23 Aug. 1/5 This is a vicious spiral of..mounting prices and declining traffic volume.
1982 Times 26 Aug. 3/8 It is a vicious circle. The boats cannot be sure of selling their fish until the processors invest in the new plant to handle it, and the processors cannot risk their money until they are sure that the fleet has guaranteed fishing areas and catch quotas.
10. vicious abstraction (Philosophy), the abstraction of one quality or term from a thing or concept at the expense of other qualities or terms of which it is also composed; hence vicious abstractionism.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical syllogism > logical argument > [noun] > logical fallacy > vicious abstraction
vicious abstraction1883
vicious abstractionism1909
1883 F. H. Bradley Princ. Logic 511 If we recognize these elements our unit is not solitary; if we ignore them we fall into vicious abstraction.
1909 W. James Meaning of Truth xiii. 249 Let me give the name of ‘vicious abstractionism’ to a way of using concepts which may be thus described.
1932 H. H. Price Perception vii. 173 To use the language of the Idealist tradition, they only seem to be mere acceptances through a ‘vicious abstraction’.
Compounds
vicious-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1871 ‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshman 247 The gray mare expressed her denial..by giving one or two slight but uncommonly vicious-looking kicks.
1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping (1899) 60 Those vicious-looking knives looked as if they could do such work well.
Draft additions December 2013
vicious cycle n. a sequence of reciprocal cause and effect in which two or more elements intensify and aggravate each other, leading inexorably to a worsening of the situation; = vicious circle at sense 9.
ΚΠ
1846 Times 1 July 4/4 Such a vicious cycle of alternate triumphs and depressions will no longer be tolerated now.
1922 Gen. Electric Rev. June 333/1 We hear a great deal about vicious cycles, but here is a virtuous cycle.
1967 Jrnl. Pediatrics 70 752/2 It is possible that there is a vicious cycle established in which pulmonary vasoconstriction leads to increased hypoxia; this leads to increased lactic acidosis, which in turn leads to further vasoconstriction.
2009 Daily Tel. 16 Jan. 11/7 The heavier a child is the less active they tend to be because it becomes harder to run about—it's a vicious cycle.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.c1340