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noun
1.
an immoral or evil habit or practice. Synonyms: fault, failing, foible, weakness. Antonyms: virtue.
2.
immoral conduct; depraved or degrading behavior: a life of vice. Synonyms: depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness, corruption. Antonyms: virtue, morality.
3.
sexual immorality, especially prostitution. Synonyms: wantonness, degeneracy, licentiousness.
4.
a particular form of depravity.
5.
a fault, defect, or shortcoming: a minor vice in his literary style. Synonyms: flaw, blemish, imperfection, foible, weakness.
Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin vitium a fault, defect, vice
1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin vitium a fault, defect, vice
Synonym Study
1. Fault, failing, foible, weakness, vice imply shortcomings or imperfections in a person. Fault is the common word used to refer to any of the average shortcomings of a person; when it is used, condemnation is not necessarily implied: Of his many faults the greatest is vanity. Foible, failing, weakness all tend to excuse the person referred to. Of these foible is the mildest, suggesting a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing: the foibles of artists. Weakness suggests that the person in question is unable to control a particular impulse, and gives way to self-indulgence: a weakness for pretty women. Failing is closely akin to fault, except that it is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings: Procrastination and making excuses are common failings. Vice (which may also apply to a sin in itself, apart from a person: the vice of gambling ) is the strongest term, and designates a habit that is truly detrimental or evil.
1. Fault, failing, foible, weakness, vice imply shortcomings or imperfections in a person. Fault is the common word used to refer to any of the average shortcomings of a person; when it is used, condemnation is not necessarily implied: Of his many faults the greatest is vanity. Foible, failing, weakness all tend to excuse the person referred to. Of these foible is the mildest, suggesting a weak point that is slight and often amusing, manifesting itself in eccentricity rather than in wrongdoing: the foibles of artists. Weakness suggests that the person in question is unable to control a particular impulse, and gives way to self-indulgence: a weakness for pretty women. Failing is closely akin to fault, except that it is particularly applied to humanity at large, suggesting common, often venial, shortcomings: Procrastination and making excuses are common failings. Vice (which may also apply to a sin in itself, apart from a person: the vice of gambling ) is the strongest term, and designates a habit that is truly detrimental or evil.
00:10
Vice
is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
si, -sə, vaɪs
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To vice
Collins
World English Dictionary
vice1 (vaɪs) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | an immoral, wicked, or evil habit, action, or trait |
| 2. | habitual or frequent indulgence in pernicious, immoral, or degrading practices |
| 3. | a specific form of pernicious conduct, esp prostitution or sexual perversion |
| 4. | a failing or imperfection in character, conduct, etc: smoking is his only vice |
| 5. | obsolete pathol any physical defect or imperfection |
| 6. | a bad trick or disposition, as of horses, dogs, etc |
| [C13: via Old French from Latin vitium a defect] | |
| 'viceless1 | |
| —adj | |
| vice or vise2 (vaɪs) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | an appliance for holding an object while work is done upon it, usually having a pair of jaws |
| —vb | |
| 2. | (tr) to grip (something) with or as if with a vice |
| [C15: from Old French vis a screw, from Latin vītis vine, plant with spiralling tendrils (hence the later meaning)] | |
| vise or vise2 | |
| —n | |
| —vb | |
| [C15: from Old French vis a screw, from Latin vītis vine, plant with spiralling tendrils (hence the later meaning)] | |
| 'vicelike or vise2 | |
| —adj | |
| 'viselike or vise2 | |
| —adj | |
| vice3 (vaɪs) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | a. (prenominal) serving in the place of or as a deputy for |
| b. (in combination): viceroy | |
| —n | |
| 2. | informal a person who serves as a deputy to another |
| [C18: from Latin vice, from vicis interchange] | |
| vice4 (ˈvaɪsɪ) | |
| —prep | |
| instead of; as a substitute for | |
| [C16: from Latin, ablative of vicis change] | |
| Vice (vaɪs) | |
| —n | |
| (in English morality plays) a character personifying a particular vice or vice in general | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
vice
"moral fault, wickedness," c.1300, from O.Fr. vice, from L. vitium "defect, offense, blemish, imperfection," in both physical and moral senses (cf. It. vezzo "usage, entertainment").
"Horace and Aristotle have already spoken to us about the virtues of their forefathers and the vices of their own times, and through the centuries, authors have talked the same way. If all this were true, we would be bears today." [Montesquieu]Vice squad is attested from 1905. Vice anglais "corporal punishment," lit. "the English vice," is attested from 1942, from French.
vice-
prefix meaning "instead of, in place of," 15c., from L. vice "in place of," ablative of vicis "change, turn, office" (see vicarious). Sometimes borrowed in O.Fr. form vis-, vi-.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Nineteenth-century vice presidents had an annoying habit of dying in office.
She's the chief designer of the fashion line and vice president of the company.
And yet, the joke still seemed to be on the former vice president.
Along with great wealth, for a few, it stimulated political vice and the noxious excretions.
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