From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishviciousvi‧cious /ˈvɪʃəs/ ●●○ adjective 1 VIOLENTviolent and cruel in a way that hurts someone physically a vicious murder a vicious killer Keep away from that dog, he can be vicious.► see thesaurus at cruel, violent2 UNKINDvery unkind in a way that is intended to hurt someone’s feelings or make their character seem bad SYN malicious Sarah can be quite vicious at times. a vicious personal attack on the Duchess She was shocked by the vicious tone in his voice.3 SERIOUS SITUATIONunpleasantly strong or severe SYN violent a vicious gust of wind a vicious headache —viciously adverb He twisted her arm viciously. —viciousness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
vicious• The Senator launched a vicious attack on the former President.• Someone is conducting a vicious campaign of false rumours against the Royal Family.• Big Willie was the toughest dude on the block, a bad combination of vicious clothes-taking bully and mean, gutsy fighter.• "It was a particularly vicious crime, " a police spokesman said.• a vicious crime• Rottweilers are vicious dogs, far too dangerous to have as pets.• vicious dogs• High tide is often positively dangerous, with vicious dumping waves breaking on the steep slope of the upper beach.• Everybody knew Al was vicious in the courtroom, but they knew he left it in the courtroom.• But the old guard in the leadership sends in the tanks and introduces a new phase of vicious repression.• Apparently the girl was the victim of a vicious sex attack.• The car roared past, its gun still barking as the car made a vicious turn down Longwood.• John gets pretty vicious when he's drunk.• We found ourselves surrounded by a gang of vicious young thugs, armed with belts, sticks and stones.Origin vicious (1300-1400) Old French vicieux, from Latin vitiosus “full of faults”, from vitium; → VICE 