wicked
/ˈwɪkɪd
/adjective (wickeder, wickedest)
1Evil or morally wrong: a wicked and unscrupulous politician...
- When they do appear it is often in highly stereotypical guises - evil hags, wicked stepmothers or outrageous prostitutes.
- They began as innocent children and were gradually rendered wicked and evil and absolutely corrupt by the treatment they received at the hands of those they most trusted!
- ‘Blacker than night were the eyes of Makiko, wicked and evil while casting her spell,’ sang Powell.
Synonyms
evil, sinful, immoral, wrong, morally wrong, wrongful, bad, iniquitous, corrupt, black-hearted, ungodly, unholy, irreligious, unrighteous, sacrilegious, profane, blasphemous, impious, base, mean, vile;
irreverent, villainous, nefarious, erring, fallen, impure, sullied, tainted, foul, monstrous, shocking, outrageous, atrocious, abominable, reprehensible, hateful, detestable, despicable, odious, contemptible, horrible, heinous, execrable, godless, diabolical, diabolic, fiendish, vicious, murderous, barbarous, black, dark, rotten;
criminal, illicit, unlawful, illegal, illegitimate, lawless, felonious, indictable;
perverted, reprobate, sordid, depraved, degenerate, dissolute, dishonourable, dishonest, unscrupulous, unprincipled, underhand, roguish
informal crooked, warped, low-down, stinking, dirty, shady, rascally, scoundrelly
British informal beastly, bent, not cricket
Law malfeasant
archaic dastardly
rare peccable, egregious, flagitious
1.1Intended to or capable of harming someone or something: [in combination]: he pulled the long, wicked-looking dagger from its sheath...
- To fend them off, he transforms himself into Paperboy, an African American superhero who punishes with paper objects and wicked paper cuts.
- He smiled pleasantly and held up a black-gloved hand to show a short, wicked knife with a taped handle and curving blue blade.
1.2 informal Extremely unpleasant: despite the sun, the wind outside was wicked...
- Wicked weather passing through Staten Island is responsible this evening for scattered power outages.
- A wicked wind blew through the town, snapping shutters still open, throwing leaves into faces, pushing to the ground folks hurrying home in the falling darkness.
Synonyms
disagreeable, unpleasant, foul, fierce, bad, nasty, irksome, troublesome, annoying, irritating, vexatious, displeasing, uncomfortable, distressing, hateful, detestable, miserable, abominable, execrable, odious, invidious, objectionable
2Playfully mischievous: a wicked sense of humour...
- In person, the foreboding man in the trench coat on the back cover of The Manhattan Hunt Club is a jovial, mischievous elf with a wicked sense of humor and a love of gossip.
- Karen, as far I could make out, was a lovely girl, very kind, but with a cheeky, wicked sense of humour that matched the impish glint in her eye.
- In fact, it's not a bad way to get to the highlights of the day's news because most Australian political cartoonists have the ability to get to the heart of an issue with a wicked sense of humour or irony.
Synonyms
mischievous, playful, naughty, impish, roguish, arch, rascally, rakish, puckish, waggish, devilish, tricksy, cheeky, raffish, teasing
3 informal Excellent; wonderful: Sophie makes wicked cakes...
- The first time had been fast and wicked and wonderful.
- Whatever the case may be, anything that beeps and buzzes when it moves, and talks like an omniscient Speak & Spell, is automatically wicked boss cool.
- I thought it was a wicked cool quote but I never understood it.
Synonyms
excellent, superb, superlative, first-rate, first-class, superior, outstanding, remarkable, dazzling, marvellous, magnificent, wonderful, splendid, admirable, noteworthy, impressive, fine, exquisite, exceptional, glorious, sublime, peerless, perfect, of the first water
informal super, great, fantastic, fabulous, terrific, awesome, heavenly, stellar, ace, smashing, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, A1, tip-top, top-notch, neat, mega, cool, banging, cracking, crucial
British informal brilliant, brill, bosting
North American badass
informal, dated divine
Phrases
no rest (or peace) for the wicked
Origin
Middle English: probably from Old English wicca 'witch' + -ed1.
This comes from Old English wicca ‘witch’. Wicked is one of those words, like bad, which has completely reversed its meaning in the slang sense ‘excellent, very good’, first used in the 1920s. No peace for the wicked is a biblical allusion, to the Book of Isaiah: ‘There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.’ See also thumb