wicked
English · Thesaurus
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wicked¹
- /ˈwɪk.ɪd/ Australia, Canada, US
- /ˈwək.əd/ New Zealand
Rhymes with -ɪkɪd
Where it comes from
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.
adjective wickeder · more wicked · wickedest · most wicked
-
Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible.
Genuine cowards follow wicked people and cannot reliably sustain any virtue.
Similar: evil, immoral, malevolent, malicious, nefarious, twisted, villainous, abandoned, arrant, bad, bad apple, bad seed
- Harsh; severe. wicked wind
-
Excellent; awesome; masterful; exceptional.
That was a wicked guitar solo, bro!
Similar: awesome, bad, cool, dope, excellent, far out, groovy, hot, rad, ace, admirable, amazing
adverb
-
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.
Similar: above a bit, absolutely, sorely, widely, horribly, horrendously, bone, abundantly, all too, all, but good, completely
noun the wicked
- Wicked (evil) people collectively. And goodness knows the wicked's lives are lonely / Goodness knows the wicked die alone
wicked²
- /wɪkt/ Australia, Canada, US
- /wəkt/ New Zealand
Rhymes with -ɪkt
Where it comes from
See wick.
verb
- simple past and past participle of wick
adjective
- Having a wick. a two-wicked lamp
wicked³
- /ˈwɪkɪd/
Rhymes with -ɪkɪd
Where it comes from
See wick.
adjective
- Active; brisk.
- Infested with maggots.
- Alternative form of wick, as applying to inanimate objects only.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: diabolical, villainous, nefarious, flagitious, depraved, evil-minded, evil, sinister, sinful, perversive, despicable, vile, iniquitous, offensive, corruptive, vicious
Translations
Every language
adj evil or mischievous
| Español | malvado, avieso |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 나쁘다 nappeuda |
| 日本語 | 邪悪 jaaku, 意地悪い ijiwarui, 腕白 wanpaku |
| 中文 | 邪惡 /邪恶 xié'è, 調皮 /调皮 tiáopí |
| हिन्दी | दुराचारी durācārī |
| Kiswahili | -baya |
| Português | mau, malvado, bárbaro |
| Français | méchant |
| Deutsch | böse, sündhaft, schlecht, schlimm, bösartig, boshaft |
| Italiano | malvagio, cattivo, diabolico, perverso, nefasto, maligno |
| Ελληνικά | κακός kakós |
| Română | rău, răutăcios, hain |
| Русский | злой zloj, зло́бный zlóbnyj, озорно́й ozornój, по́длый pódlyj |
| العربية | شِرِير širīr |
| עברית | רָשָׁע rashá' |
adj slang: awesome
| 日本語 | 素晴らしい subarashii, 素敵 suteki, 凄い sugoi |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 棒 bàng, 了不起 liǎobuqǐ, 酷 kù |
| Português | legal, da hora, muito louco |
| Français | génial, sensass, super, mortel, chanmé |
| Deutsch | super, genial, toll, geil |
| Italiano | diabolico, fantastico, figo |
| Ελληνικά | γαμάτος gamátos, φοβερός foverós |
| Русский | потряса́ющий potrjasájuščij, круто́й krutój, кла́ссный klássnyj, клёвый kljóvyj |
adv slang: very
| Español | muy |
|---|---|
| Français | trop, diablement |
| Italiano | maledettamente |
Talk about this word "wicked." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/wicked. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. wicked. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/wicked "wicked." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/wicked.Cite this
@misc{wicked_2026,
title = {wicked},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/wicked},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
