vice
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vice¹
- /vaɪs/ UK, US
Sounds like vise · Rhymes with -aɪs
Where it comes from
PIE word
*dwóh₁
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
Proto-Indo-European *(d)wi-tyo-?
▲
Proto-Indo-European *dwi-
Proto-Indo-European *wí?
Latin vitium
Old French vicebor.
Middle English vice
English vice
From Middle English vice, from Old French vice, from Latin vitium (“fault or blemish”). Displaced native Old English unþēaw.
noun vices
-
Bad or immoral behaviour. (Especially often, a habit that harms oneself or others)
Pride is a vice, not a virtue.
Similar: profligacy, carrying-on, Corinthianism, knavery, rakehood, vice · Opposite: virtue
- Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to weapons, prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.
- Clipping of vice squad
- A defect in the temper or behaviour of a horse, such as to make the animal dangerous, to injure its health, or to diminish its usefulness. So a horse with say, navicular disease, making him suitable only for light hacking, would probably be unsound, whereas rearing would be a vice, being a "defect in the temper... making it dangerous". A vice can however render a horse unsound - possibly a crib biter will damage its wind.
vice²
- /vaɪs/ UK, US
Sounds like vise · Rhymes with -aɪs
Where it comes from
See vise.
noun vices
- Alternative spelling of vise (“mechanical screw apparatus used for clamping”).
- A tool for drawing lead into cames, or flat grooved rods, for casements.
- A winding or spiral staircase.
- A grip or grasp. Fang. If I but fiſt him once: if he come but within my Vice.
verb vices · vicing · viced
- Alternative spelling of vise (“to hold or squeeze with a vice”). Camillo. As he had ſeen’t, or beene an Instrument / To vice you to't, that you haue toucht his Queene / Forbiddenly.
vice³
- /vaɪs/ UK, US
Sounds like vise · Rhymes with -aɪs
Where it comes from
From Latin vice (“in place of”), ablative form of vicis. Compare French fois (“time”) and Spanish vez (“time, turn”).
adjective
- in place of; subordinate to; designating a person below another in rank vice president
preposition
- Instead of; in place of; versus. He was gardener and out-door man, vice Upton, resigned.
noun vices
- One who acts in place of a superior. c. 1850s-1870s, Edward Minister and Son, The Gazette of Fashion and Cutting-Room Companion The health of the Vice was proposed in appropriate language; in replying, Mr. Marriott thanked the company […]
Vice⁴
proper noun Vices
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: frailty, immorality, evil, fault, defect, deficiency, error, obscene, slander, obscenity, scourge, exhaustion, debauchery, kam, erotic, habit
Translations
Every language
noun bad habit
| Español | vicio, resabio |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 악습 akseup |
| 日本語 | 悪習 akushū |
| 中文 | 惡習 /恶习 èxí |
| Português | vício, mania |
| Français | vice |
| Deutsch | Laster, Lasterhaftigkeit, Untugend |
| Italiano | vizio, difetto, malvezzo, pecca |
| Ελληνικά | ελάττωμα eláttoma |
| Română | viciu |
| Русский | поро́к porók |
| العربية | رَذِيلَة raḏīla |
| עברית | עבריינות avarjanút, השחתת מידות hashkhatát midót |
noun crime related to prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, or drugs
| 한국어 | 죄악 joeak, 범죄 beomjoe |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 罪悪 zaiaku, 犯罪 hanzai |
| 中文 | 罪惡 /罪恶 zuì'è, 犯罪 fànzuì, 魔道 módào, 歪路 wāilù, 邪路 xiélù |
| Français | affaire de mœurs |
| Deutsch | Sittenvergehen, Sittlichkeitsdelikt, Sittlichkeitsverbrechen |
| Italiano | delitto a sfondo sessuale |
| Русский | поро́к porók |
| עברית | עבריינות מין avarjanút min, עבריינות סמים avarjanút samím |
Talk about this word "vice." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/vice. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. vice. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/vice "vice." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/vice.Cite this
@misc{vice_2026,
title = {vice},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/vice},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
