wicked
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: enpr: wĭkʹĭd
ipa: /ˈwɪkɪd/
rhymes: -ɪkɪd
Forms: form: wickeder
form: more wicked
form: wickedest
form: most wicked
Etymology: From Middle English wicked, wikked, an alteration of Middle English wicke, wikke (“morally perverse, evil, wicked”). Of uncertain origin. Possibly from an adjectival use of Old English wiċċa (“wizard, sorcerer”), from Proto-West Germanic *wikkō (“necromancer, sorcerer”), though the phonology makes this theory difficult to explain. Alternatively, perhaps related to English wicker, Old Norse víkja (“to bend to, yield, turn, move”), Swedish vika (“to bend, fold, give way to”), English weak.
The "excellent, awesome" sense is an ameliorative semantic shift from the original sense of "evil, mischievous". Compare similar semantic development in terrific and sick.
Senses: examples: text: Genuine cowards follow wicked people and cannot reliably sustain any virtue.
text: The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bolde as a lyon.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 28:1:
text: “Yes,” replied she; “and the saddest part of it all is that she is not marrying the man she loves. Oh, it is terrible. Marrying from a sense of duty! I think it is perfectly wicked, and I told her so.”
ref: 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 101:
text: ‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”.[…]’.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
text: What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way / What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you / What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way
ref: 1989, Chris Isaak, “Wicked Game”, in Heart Shaped World:
synonyms: word: evil
word: immoral
word: malevolent
word: malicious
word: nefarious
word: twisted
word: villainous
word: abandoned
word: arrant
word: bad
word: bad apple
word: bad seed
word: baleful
word: baneful
word: base
word: dark
word: deleterious
word: depraved
word: despicable
word: detrimental
word: devilish
word: diabolical
word: evil
word: flagitious
word: harmful
word: ill-intentioned
word: ill-natured
word: immoral
word: incorrigible
word: iniquitous
word: iniquous
word: injurious
word: knavish
word: malefic
word: maleficent
word: malevolent
word: malicious
word: malign
word: malignant
word: nefarious
word: niddering
word: nidering
word: niding
word: nithing
word: no-good
word: peccaminous
word: pernicious
word: reprehensible
word: reprobate
word: satanic
word: scathful
word: sinful
word: sinister
word: sordid
word: sullen
word: ungodly
word: unholy
word: vicious
word: vile
word: villainous
word: wicked
word: wrong
glosses: Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible.
examples: text: wicked wind
glosses: Harsh; severe.
examples: text: That was a wicked guitar solo, bro!
synonyms: word: awesome
word: bad
word: cool
word: dope
word: excellent
word: far out
word: groovy
word: hot
word: rad
word: ace
word: admirable
word: awe-inspiring
word: awesome
word: bang on
word: bang-up
word: based
word: beneship
word: bitching
word: bomb
word: brilliant
word: bully
word: cher
word: choice
word: chronic
word: chur
word: cock on
word: cool
word: copacetic
word: crackerjack
word: cushty
word: dank
word: def
word: dope
word: excellent
word: exceptional
word: fab
word: fabulous
word: fantabulosa
word: fantastic
word: finger-lickin' good
word: fire
word: fireball
word: first-rate
word: fly
word: frabjous
word: gnarly
word: goated
word: great
word: grouse
word: kicking
word: killer
word: lash
word: lautitious
word: lit
word: marvelous
word: nang
word: outstanding
word: out of sight
word: phat
word: peng
word: phenomenal
word: pukka
word: quality
word: rad
word: radical
word: rum
word: sick
word: slap-up
word: slick
word: spiffing
word: splendid
word: sterling
word: super
word: superb
word: superior
word: sweet
word: swell
word: terrific
word: tight
word: top
word: top-drawer
word: top-hole
word: top-notch
word: top-of-the-range
word: top-shelf
word: topping
word: tubular
word: wicked
word: wicked pissah
word: wonderful
word: worldie
glosses: Excellent; awesome; masterful.
Derived terms: have one's wicked way with
no rest for the wicked
no sleep for the wicked
wickedly
wickedness
wicked pissah
wicked problem
wicked tongue