wicked

comparative wickeder · comparative more wicked · superlative wickedest · superlative most wicked

1. Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible.

   Genuine cowards follow wicked people and cannot reliably sustain any virtue.

   4 more examples

   The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bolde as a lyon.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 28:1

   “Yes,” replied she; “and the saddest part of it all is that she is not marrying the man she loves. Oh, it is terrible. Marrying from a sense of duty! I think it is perfectly wicked, and I told her so.”

   1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 101

   ‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”.[…]’.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way / What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you / What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way

   1989, Chris Isaak, “Wicked Game”, in Heart Shaped World

   Synonyms: evil, immoral, malevolent, malicious, nefarious, twisted, villainous, abandoned

2. Harsh; severe.

   wicked wind

3. slangExcellent; awesome; masterful; exceptional.

   That was a wicked guitar solo, bro!

   1 more example

   The Artemis II astronauts sent back descriptions of the total solar eclipse they viewed from space to NASA's Mission Control. "It’s truly hard to describe. It is amazing," pilot Victor Glover said. Glover said that the Orion spacecraft was made as dark as possible due to every bit of light in the cabin affecting the view. "It’s a wicked view," he said of the darkened moon with deep space behind it.

   2026 April 6, Mary Kekatos, Julia Jacobo, Leah Sarnoff, Ivan Pereira, quoting Victor Glover, “'Absolutely spectacular, surreal': Astronauts describe solar eclipse”, in ABC News, retrieved 06 Apr 2026

   Synonyms: awesome, bad, cool, dope, excellent, far out, groovy, hot

1. Scotlandarchaicnot comparableslangslightly dated in BostonTo a superlative extent, very, extremely

   The band we went to see the other night was pissah, and they were wicked loud!

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   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.

   James: It looks like you're wearing earrings also. Those are really something. Those aren't too heavy, are they? / Sonia: No, they're actually, like, wicked light.

   2025, Love On the Spectrum, season 3, episode 3, James and Sonia (actors)

   “There are not many non-passionate people that drive race cars…but at the same time, you have to be wicked calm and really dedicated to excellence if you're good at it. And John [Ternus] is good at it.”

   2026 September 5, Michael Acton, quoting Wendell Weeks, “Apple’s new ‘wicked calm’ chief executive”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 9

   Synonyms: above a bit, absolutely, sorely, widely, horribly, horrendously, bone, abundantly

1. pluralplural onlyWicked (evil) people collectively.

   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

1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of wick

1. not comparableHaving a wick.

   a two-wicked lamp

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   Up went Moggy, with her thick-wicked kitchen candle, to seek repose; […]

   1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard

1. UKdialectalobsoleteActive; brisk.
2. UKYorkshiredialectalInfested with maggots.
3. alternativeAlternative form of wick, as applying to inanimate objects only.