vicious
adjective
[ ˈvɪʃəs ]
• deliberately cruel or violent.
• "a vicious assault"
Similar:
brutal,
ferocious,
savage,
violent,
dangerous,
ruthless,
remorseless,
merciless,
heartless,
callous,
cruel,
harsh,
cold-blooded,
inhuman,
fierce,
barbarous,
barbaric,
brutish,
bestial,
bloodthirsty,
bloody,
fiendish,
sadistic,
monstrous,
villainous,
murderous,
homicidal,
heinous,
atrocious,
diabolical,
terrible,
dreadful,
awful,
grim,
beastly,
fell,
sanguinary,
malicious,
malevolent,
malignant,
malign,
spiteful,
vindictive,
venomous,
poisonous,
baleful,
virulent,
pernicious,
backbiting,
rancorous,
caustic,
mean,
bitter,
acrimonious,
hostile,
hate-filled,
menacing,
nasty,
unpleasant,
evil,
defamatory,
slanderous,
bitchy,
catty,
malefic,
maleficent,
• immoral.
• "every soul on earth, virtuous or vicious, shall perish"
• (of language or a line of reasoning) imperfect; defective.
Origin:
Middle English (in the sense ‘characterized by immorality’): from Old French vicious or Latin vitiosus, from vitium ‘vice’.
