wicked

adj

/ˈwɪk.ɪd/CA/ˈwək.əd//wɪkt/CA/wəkt//ˈwɪkɪd/

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.

derived from *wikkō✻ — “necromancer, sorcerer”
derived from wiċċa — “wizard, sorcerer”
derived from wicke
inherited from wicked

Definitions

1
Evil or mischievous by nature
Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible.
- Genuine cowards follow wicked people and cannot reliably sustain any virtue.
- The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bolde as a lyon.
- “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.”
2
Harsh
Harsh; severe.
- wicked wind
3
Excellent
Excellent; awesome; masterful; exceptional.
- That was a wicked guitar solo, bro!
›+ 7 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  To a superlative extent, very, extremely
  - I didn't really wanna go see On Golden Pond with the fam, but my mom made me go, and I must say that in retrospect it was a wicked expressive film, with a lot of significant meaning.
  - The band we went to see the other night was pissah, and they were wicked loud!
  - James: It looks like you're wearing earrings also. Those are really something. Those aren't too heavy, are they? / Sonia: No, they're actually, like, wicked light.
2. 5
  Wicked (evil) people collectively.
  - And goodness knows the wicked's lives are lonely / Goodness knows the wicked die alone
3. simple past and past participle of wick
4. 7
  Having a wick.
  - a two-wicked lamp
  - Up went Moggy, with her thick-wicked kitchen candle, to seek repose; […]
5. Active
  Active; brisk.
6. Infested with maggots.
7. Alternative form of wick, as applying to inanimate objects only.

The neighborhood

Derived

have one's wicked way with, no rest for the wicked, no sleep for the wicked, wickedly, wickedness, wicked pissah, wicked problem, wicked tongue

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at wicked. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at wicked. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at wicked

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA