wickedness

noun

wick·​ed·​ness ˈwi-kəd-nəs 

1

: the quality or state of being wicked

2

: something wicked

Synonyms

• devilishness
• devilment
• devilry
• deviltry
• diablerie
• espièglerie
• hob
• impishness
• knavery
• mischief
• mischievousness
• rascality
• roguery
• roguishness
• shenanigan(s)
• waggery
• waggishness

Examples of wickedness in a Sentence

a couple of live wires who got into all kinds of wickedness during their vacation in Las Vegas

the movie featured a villain of unadulterated wickedness

Recent Examples on the Web

In his book, Maguire explored the origin of the Wicked Witch, and asks how much of her wickedness was imposed upon her by a cruel and deceptive society. —Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 24 Nov. 2024

Was wickedness thrust upon Jon M. Chu’s movie adaptation of Wicked by the critics? —Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 22 Nov. 2024

What Gregory Maguire wanted to write was a really sophisticated allegorical exploration of the nature of evil itself and what might drive Elphaba to wickedness. —Constance Grady, Vox, 20 Nov. 2024

Bre works hard to convince us that she’s conflicted over what to do with this information and is sympathetic to Chelsea’s plight, but Amanda Lynn radiates a wickedness that undercuts however decent Bre is trying to be here. —Anne Victoria Clark, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1