bitcheryn.
/ˈbɪtʃ(ə)ri/, U.S. /ˈbɪtʃəri/ 1. Licentiousness, lewdness; lecherous or sexually promiscuous behaviour. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > sexual indulgence > illicit
whoredomOE
harlotrya1387
brothelry?1526
chambering1526
bitchery1533
buttock banqueting1555
bitching1675
1533 T. More 2nd Pt. Confut. Tyndals Answere vi. p. ccli Suche maryage is very vnlawfull lechery & playne abomynable bychery.
1598 J. Marston Scourge of Villanie i. iv. sig. D4v He will vnline himselfe from bitcherie.
1683 A. Oldys London Jilt II. 38 I ought to have considered on your Bitchery before I married you.
a1704 T. Brown Walk round London in 3rd Vol. Wks. (1708) iii. 4 The Falshood of their Wives, the Disobedience of their Children, the Roguery of their Lawyers, the Bitchery of their Paramours.
1929 A. Huxley Do what you Will 85 Here is a happy mean between bitchery and virginity.
1932 W. Faulkner Light in August vi. 120 Womansinning and bitchery.
2. Malicious or spiteful talk or behaviour; bitchiness.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > harmfulness > spitefulness > feeling of spite > [noun]
ondeeOE
teenOE
envyc1300
malicea1325
eftc1325
maugrec1330
spitec1330
malignec1475
wrokea1500
doggedness1530
despitefulness1535
cankeredness1538
venomy1548
livor1589
doggishness1622
viperousness1651
Schadenfreude1895
bitchery1936
the world > action or operation > behaviour > bad behaviour > unkindness > spite, malice > [noun]
ondeeOE
evestOE
teenOE
hatingOE
envyc1300
eftc1325
maugrec1330
spitec1330
malicea1382
despitec1400
unkindnessc1400
malignec1475
wrokea1500
doggedness1530
despitefulness1535
cankeredness1538
venomy1548
livor1589
doggishness1622
viperousness1651
acid1768
Schadenfreude1895
bitchery1936
1936 C. Day Lewis Friendly Tree i. 22 How I hate the Womanly woman and all her bitchery!
1962 Times 27 Sept. 15/2 Fausto's fiancée is an admirable study in feminine bitchery.
1975 P. White Let. 8 Feb. (1994) xii. 451 The production was not a very good one, without style, and suggesting none of the Berlin bitchery and bitterness it should have had.
2012 Maclean's 30 Apr. 60 A script loaded with heaps of scandal, double-crossing and enough backstabbing bitchery to make the writers of Dynasty jealous.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1533