wicked means evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible. It carries an Arena rating of 1514, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, wicked ranks #148 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #3,612 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #4,861 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #6,365 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words.
wicked is pronounced /ˈwɪk.ɪd/.
Why “wicked” is a great word
Evil or morally reprehensible by nature, a word that has performed the ultimate semantic volte-face to also signify, in modern slang, something excellent or awesome. From Middle English wicked, wikked, an alteration of Middle English wicke, wikke ("morally perverse, evil"), of uncertain origin; possibly related to Old English wiċċa ("wizard, sorcerer") or Old Norse víkja ("to bend, turn"). The ameliorative sense of "excellent" is a modern semantic shift. Unlike "evil," which is a direct and absolute condemnation, or "awesome," which conveys uncomplicated admiration, "wicked" carries the patina of the forbidden, a mischievous edge in either valence. It is the glint in the villain's eye, the thrilling drop of a rollercoaster, and the subversive pleasure of a bassline that shakes the floor—a word that knows morality, like language itself, is never a straight line.
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.
adj
- Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible.e.g.“Genuine cowards follow wicked people and cannot reliably sustain any virtue.”
- Harsh; severe.e.g.“wicked wind”
- Excellent; awesome; masterful; exceptional.e.g.“That was a wicked guitar solo, bro!”
- Having a wick.e.g.“a two-wicked lamp”
- Active; brisk.
- Infested with maggots.
adv
- To a superlative extent, very, extremelye.g.“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.”
noun
- Wicked (evil) people collectively.e.g.“And goodness knows the wicked's lives are lonely / Goodness knows the wicked die alone” — 2024, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Wicked Movie Cast, “No One Mourns the Wicked”, in Wicked: The Soundtrack, performed by Ariana grande:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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