vicious

Word family

vi·cious /ˈvɪʃəs/ adjectiveadj

1 VIOLENTviolent and cruel in a way that hurts someone physically 凶险的；残酷的

a vicious murder

一桩凶残的谋杀案

a vicious killer

凶狠的杀手

Keep away from that dog, he can be vicious.

离那只狗远点，它有时很凶猛。

► see thesaurus at cruel, violent

2 UNKINDvery unkind in a way that is intended to hurt someone’s feelings or make their character seem bad 狠毒的，恶毒的，恶意的 SYN malicious

Sarah can be quite vicious at times.

萨拉有时相当狠毒。

a vicious personal attack on the Duchess

对公爵夫人恶毒的人身攻击

She was shocked by the vicious tone in his voice.

她对他恶毒的语气感到震惊。

3 SERIOUS SITUATIONunpleasantly strong or severe 剧烈的；恶劣的 SYN violent

a vicious gust of wind

一阵很猛烈的风

a vicious headache

剧烈的头痛

—viciously adverbadv

He twisted her arm viciously.

他凶狠地反拧她的胳膊。

—viciousness noun [uncountableU]

Examples from the Corpus

vicious• The Senator launched a vicious attack on the former President.• Someone is conducting a vicious campaign of false rumours against the Royal Family.• Big Willie was the toughest dude on the block, a bad combination of vicious clothes-taking bully and mean, gutsy fighter.• "It was a particularly vicious crime, " a police spokesman said.• a vicious crime• Rottweilers are vicious dogs, far too dangerous to have as pets.• vicious dogs• High tide is often positively dangerous, with vicious dumping waves breaking on the steep slope of the upper beach.• Everybody knew Al was vicious in the courtroom, but they knew he left it in the courtroom.• But the old guard in the leadership sends in the tanks and introduces a new phase of vicious repression.• Apparently the girl was the victim of a vicious sex attack.• The car roared past, its gun still barking as the car made a vicious turn down Longwood.• John gets pretty vicious when he's drunk.• We found ourselves surrounded by a gang of vicious young thugs, armed with belts, sticks and stones.

Origin vicious

(1300-1400) Old French vicieux, from Latin vitiosus “full of faults”, from vitium; → VICE

Chinese

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