wicked

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

adj. evil, bad; criminal, depraved, iniquitous; cruel, heartless, sinful, vicious, immoral; difficult, disagreeable; informal, mischievous. See wrong.

II

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [Morally evil]

Syn. evil, immoral, unethical, corrupt, unprincipled, sinful, bad, base, foul, gross, dissolute, wayward, irreligious, blasphemous, profane, evil-minded, vile, degenerate, depraved, incorrigible, heartless, shameless, degraded, debauched, hard, toughened, disreputable, infamous, indecent, mean, remorseless, reprobate, salacious, iniquitous, scandalous, atrocious, contemptible, nasty, rotten*, low-down*, good-for-nothing*, dirty*.

Ant. good*, virtuous, pure*.

2. [Capable of doing Great damage]

Syn. vicious, fiendish, diabolical, hellish, villainous, rascally, devilish, malevolent, malicious, plotting, conspiratorial, iniquitous, flagrant, nefarious, criminal, heinous, murderous, tricky, sinister, ignoble, monstrous, opprobrious, felonious, dangerous, cutthroat, ratty*, slippery*, crooked*.

Ant. honest*, just, kind.

3. [Naughty]

Syn. naughty, mischievous, roguish; see naughty .

Syn.- wicked and evil both connote willful violation of a moral code, but evil often has ominous or malevolent implications [ an evil hour ] , and wicked is sometimes weakened in a playful way to mean merely mischievous [wicked with ] ; ill , which is slightly weaker than evil in its implications of immorality, is now used chiefly in certain idiomatic phrases [ill -gotten gains ] ; naughty today implies mere mischievousness or disobedience [ a naughty child ] ; bad , in this comParison, is the broadest term, ranging in implication from merely unsatisfactory to utterly depraved

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

1. evil bad, immoral, depraved, sinful, villainous, fiendish, shameless, rotten, nasty, iniquitous, nefarious, blackhearted, unprincipled, low, lawless, criminal.

2. naughty mischievous, devilish, rascally, impish, roguish, misbehaving, prankish.

3. severe bad, awful, nasty, fierce, intense, acute, harsh, horrible.

ANT.: 1. good, moral, virtuous. 2. well-behaved, well-mannered. 3. mild, gentle, easy, slight

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) adjective 1. Morally objectionable: bad, black, evil, immoral, iniquitous, peccant, reprobate, sinful, vicious, wrong. See RIGHT. 2. Characterized by intense ill will or spite: black, despiteful, evil, hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean2, nasty, poisonous, spiteful, venomous, vicious. Slang: bitchy. See ATTITUDE. 3. Hard to treat, manage, or cope with: troublesome. Informal: pesky. Slang: mean2. See EASY.