1
3
: worsened by internal causes that reciprocally augment each other
a vicious wage-price spiral
viciously
adverb
viciousness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of vicious in a Sentence
Challenging areas of social consensus, however dumb or even vicious the consensus, is largely off limits for the media, because it wins no friends among the general public.
—
Richard A. Posner, New York Times Book Review, 31 July 2005
The genetically vicious nature of presidential campaigns in America is too obvious to argue with, but some people call it fun, and I am one of them.
—Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2004
True to Finals form, this hardwood battle has become as vicious as any street scrum.
—Anne Marie Cruz, ESPN, 24 June 2002
For most of my life I have retained a haunting image from an old Tarzan movie: piranhas, those vicious little fish with the arrowhead-shaped teeth, devouring a pig. Forget that there are no piranha in Africa. But they do exist in Brazil, in abundance in the meandering waterways of the Amazon Basin.
—Gerald Eskenazi, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2002
The Olympics always seemed too much like war, vicious old men manipulating youngsters hungry for fame into performing heroic acts for short change.
—Robert Lipsyte, New York Times, 29 July 2001
His slider—a vicious, hard-breaking pitch with which he finished off right-handed hitters for years—was inconsistent and benign, and the velocity of his fastball was diminished.
—Buster Olney, New York Times Magazine, 4 Mar. 2001
a vicious tone of voice
I know you're upset with her, but there's no need to be vicious.
Richard A. Posner, New York Times Book Review, 31 July 2005
The genetically vicious nature of presidential campaigns in America is too obvious to argue with, but some people call it fun, and I am one of them.
—Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2004
True to Finals form, this hardwood battle has become as vicious as any street scrum.
—Anne Marie Cruz, ESPN, 24 June 2002
For most of my life I have retained a haunting image from an old Tarzan movie: piranhas, those vicious little fish with the arrowhead-shaped teeth, devouring a pig. Forget that there are no piranha in Africa. But they do exist in Brazil, in abundance in the meandering waterways of the Amazon Basin.
—Gerald Eskenazi, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2002
The Olympics always seemed too much like war, vicious old men manipulating youngsters hungry for fame into performing heroic acts for short change.
—Robert Lipsyte, New York Times, 29 July 2001
His slider—a vicious, hard-breaking pitch with which he finished off right-handed hitters for years—was inconsistent and benign, and the velocity of his fastball was diminished.
—Buster Olney, New York Times Magazine, 4 Mar. 2001
a vicious tone of voice
I know you're upset with her, but there's no need to be vicious.
Recent Examples on the Web
The immune system loses its ability to repair wounds and fight infections such as those causing diarrhea, which can create a vicious cycle that further deprives the body of nutrients.
—Lauren Weber, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
The vote, which was preceded by vicious campaigning in which both sides spent tens of millions of dollars to sway shareholders, served to solidify Iger’s control over Disney and its direction.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024
This vicious cycle has created a major opioid crisis in the U.S.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
The region is in a vicious cycle in which climate change contributes to dry and hot conditions that worsen fires, with those fires in turn releasing greenhouse gasses that further drive climate change, Lozada said.
—CNN, 2 Apr. 2024
Season 1, one of the best, follows a series of vicious present-day copycat murders after an ‘80s Halloween massacre.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 31 Mar. 2024
An inability to sleep can be the start of a vicious cycle.
—Yuliya Klochan, Health, 30 Mar. 2024
This isn’t surprising: regimes as vicious and ambitious as Adolf Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union, and Mao’s China shared little more than a desire to turn the world on its head.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2024
All killer whales are currently classified as Orcinus orca, a macabre nod to their vicious reputation.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
Lauren Weber, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
The vote, which was preceded by vicious campaigning in which both sides spent tens of millions of dollars to sway shareholders, served to solidify Iger’s control over Disney and its direction.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 3 Apr. 2024
This vicious cycle has created a major opioid crisis in the U.S.
—Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
The region is in a vicious cycle in which climate change contributes to dry and hot conditions that worsen fires, with those fires in turn releasing greenhouse gasses that further drive climate change, Lozada said.
—CNN, 2 Apr. 2024
Season 1, one of the best, follows a series of vicious present-day copycat murders after an ‘80s Halloween massacre.
—Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 31 Mar. 2024
An inability to sleep can be the start of a vicious cycle.
—Yuliya Klochan, Health, 30 Mar. 2024
This isn’t surprising: regimes as vicious and ambitious as Adolf Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union, and Mao’s China shared little more than a desire to turn the world on its head.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 29 Mar. 2024
All killer whales are currently classified as Orcinus orca, a macabre nod to their vicious reputation.
—Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'vicious.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Vicious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vicious. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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