Definition of "vicious" []

• Having the nature of vice; evil, immoral, or depraved. (adjective)
• Given to vice, immorality, or depravity. (adjective)
• Spiteful; malicious: vicious gossip. (adjective)
• Disposed to or characterized by violent or destructive behavior. See Synonyms at cruel. (adjective)
• Marked by an aggressive disposition; savage. Used chiefly of animals. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I borrowed the term vicious cycle as it did in cycle for the past 71 years or once less than every 4 years."
• "When I use the term vicious, it is for the sake of talking your language; for, if we came to explanations, it might happen that you called vice what I call virtue, and virtue what I call vice."
• "The Palestinian Authority urged the international community to intervene and implement the two-state solution, saying that is the only way to end what it called the "vicious cycle of violence.""