{
    "term": "vicious",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "violent and cruel",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a vicious attack"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a vicious criminal"
                },
                {
                    "text": "She has a vicious temper."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Police described the robbery as particularly vicious."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a particularly vicious and brutal crime"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He was set upon by vicious thugs."
                },
                {
                    "text": "This was a particularly vicious assault."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "look", "sound"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "aggressive and dangerous",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a vicious dog"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "look", "sound"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "full of hate and anger",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She wrote me a vicious letter."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The newspapers launched a vicious attack on him, forcing him to resign."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The article was vicious in its criticism of the prime minister."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I've done nothing to deserve all your vicious insinuations."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She wrote me a vicious letter after the incident."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The committee was particularly vicious in its criticism of the management."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They conducted a vicious campaign of misinformation and propaganda."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The play is a vicious attack on the nouveau riche."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "look", "sound"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "very bad or severe",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a vicious headache"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a **vicious spiral** of rising prices"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "look", "sound"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈvɪʃəs/",
                "audio": "vi/vicious/vicious__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/ˈvɪʃəs/",
                "audio": "vi/vicious/vicious__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Middle English (in the sense ‘characterized by immorality’): from Old French vicious or Latin vitiosus, from vitium ‘vice’."
}