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: worsened by internal causes that reciprocally augment each other
a vicious wage-price spiral
viciously
adverb
viciousness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of vicious in a Sentence
Challenging areas of social consensus, however dumb or even vicious the consensus, is largely off limits for the media, because it wins no friends among the general public.
—
Richard A. Posner, New York Times Book Review, 31 July 2005
The genetically vicious nature of presidential campaigns in America is too obvious to argue with, but some people call it fun, and I am one of them.
—Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2004
True to Finals form, this hardwood battle has become as vicious as any street scrum.
—Anne Marie Cruz, ESPN, 24 June 2002
For most of my life I have retained a haunting image from an old Tarzan movie: piranhas, those vicious little fish with the arrowhead-shaped teeth, devouring a pig. Forget that there are no piranha in Africa. But they do exist in Brazil, in abundance in the meandering waterways of the Amazon Basin.
—Gerald Eskenazi, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2002
The Olympics always seemed too much like war, vicious old men manipulating youngsters hungry for fame into performing heroic acts for short change.
—Robert Lipsyte, New York Times, 29 July 2001
His slider—a vicious, hard-breaking pitch with which he finished off right-handed hitters for years—was inconsistent and benign, and the velocity of his fastball was diminished.
—Buster Olney, New York Times Magazine, 4 Mar. 2001
a vicious tone of voice
I know you're upset with her, but there's no need to be vicious.
Richard A. Posner, New York Times Book Review, 31 July 2005
The genetically vicious nature of presidential campaigns in America is too obvious to argue with, but some people call it fun, and I am one of them.
—Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2004
True to Finals form, this hardwood battle has become as vicious as any street scrum.
—Anne Marie Cruz, ESPN, 24 June 2002
For most of my life I have retained a haunting image from an old Tarzan movie: piranhas, those vicious little fish with the arrowhead-shaped teeth, devouring a pig. Forget that there are no piranha in Africa. But they do exist in Brazil, in abundance in the meandering waterways of the Amazon Basin.
—Gerald Eskenazi, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2002
The Olympics always seemed too much like war, vicious old men manipulating youngsters hungry for fame into performing heroic acts for short change.
—Robert Lipsyte, New York Times, 29 July 2001
His slider—a vicious, hard-breaking pitch with which he finished off right-handed hitters for years—was inconsistent and benign, and the velocity of his fastball was diminished.
—Buster Olney, New York Times Magazine, 4 Mar. 2001
a vicious tone of voice
I know you're upset with her, but there's no need to be vicious.
Recent Examples on the Web
That was confirmed by his patron in Moscow, which supported the regime in crushing what started as a peaceful protest movement during the Arab Spring and became a vicious civil war that killed hundreds of thousands and sparked a refugee crisis.
—Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 9 Dec. 2024
Its main proxy, Hezbollah, was crippled by a pager attack on its hierarchy, and then by weeks of vicious airstrikes.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 7 Dec. 2024
The only people who won’t compare Ruth to kindly yet vicious criminal matron Mags Bennett are people who haven’t watched the second season of Justified.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Dec. 2024
If nothing is done to restore a forest after a wildfire, a vicious cycle begins.
—Jonathan Vigliotti, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for vicious 
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Elizabeth Both, NBC News, 9 Dec. 2024
Its main proxy, Hezbollah, was crippled by a pager attack on its hierarchy, and then by weeks of vicious airstrikes.
—Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 7 Dec. 2024
The only people who won’t compare Ruth to kindly yet vicious criminal matron Mags Bennett are people who haven’t watched the second season of Justified.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Dec. 2024
If nothing is done to restore a forest after a wildfire, a vicious cycle begins.
—Jonathan Vigliotti, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for vicious
Articles Related to vicious
Dictionary Entries Near vicious
Cite this Entry
“Vicious.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vicious. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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