wickedness
wickednesses
Wickedness goes way past being naughty or mischievous; it means a quality of true evil. In an old spy movie, the villain might reveal his wickedness by cackling with delight while carrying out dastardly plans.
A tyrant's cruel treatment of citizens is evidence of wickedness, while literary antagonists like Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth and Voldemort from the Harry Potter series display their wickedness through many vicious actions. Wickedness and wicked come from a now-obsolete adjective, wick, meaning "bad or false," and an Old English root it shares with wizard and witch.
Definitions of wickedness
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the quality of being wicked
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synonyms:
nefariousness, ugliness, vileness
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types:
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filthiness
moral corruption or pollution
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enormity
the quality of extreme wickedness
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filthiness
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estrangement from god
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synonyms:
sin, sinfulness
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types:
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mark of Cain
the mark that God set upon Cain now refers to a person's sinful nature
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type of:
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unrighteousness
failure to adhere to moral principles
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mark of Cain
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absence of moral or spiritual values
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morally objectionable behavior
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synonyms:
evil, immorality, iniquity
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types:
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devilry, deviltry
wicked and cruel behavior
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foul play
unfair or dishonest behavior (especially involving violence)
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irreverence, violation
a disrespectful act
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sexual immorality
the evil ascribed to sexual acts that violate social conventions
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blasphemy, desecration, profanation, sacrilege
blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character
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type of:
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evildoing, transgression
the act of transgressing; the violation of a law or a duty or moral principle
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the quality of being disgusting to the senses or emotions
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synonyms:
loathsomeness, lousiness, repulsiveness, sliminess, vileness
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type of:
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distastefulness, odiousness, offensiveness
the quality of being offensive
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distastefulness, odiousness, offensiveness
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘wickedness'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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