vixenish
sən noun
1.
a female fox.
2.
an ill-tempered or quarrelsome woman.
Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English (south); replacing earlier fixen, Middle English (north), for Old English fyxe, feminine of fox fox (compare fyxen (adj.) pertaining to a fox, Old High German fuhsin (noun) vixen)
1375–1425; late Middle English (south); replacing earlier fixen, Middle English (north), for Old English fyxe, feminine of fox fox (compare fyxen (adj.) pertaining to a fox, Old High German fuhsin (noun) vixen)
Related forms
vix·en·ish, vix·en·ly, adjective
Synonyms
2. shrew, scold, virago, harpy, termagant.
2. shrew, scold, virago, harpy, termagant.
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
|
Link To vixenish
00:10
Vixenish
is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
vixen (ˈvɪksən) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a female fox |
| 2. | a quarrelsome or spiteful woman |
| [C15: fixen; related to Old English fyxe, feminine of | |
| 'vixenish | |
| —adj | |
| 'vixenishly | |
| —adv | |
| 'vixenishness | |
| —n | |
| 'vixenly | |
| —adv, —adj | |
| vixen (ˈvɪksən) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a female fox |
| 2. | a quarrelsome or spiteful woman |
| [C15: fixen; related to Old English fyxe, feminine of | |
| 'vixenish | |
| —adj | |
| 'vixenishly | |
| —adv | |
| 'vixenishness | |
| —n | |
| 'vixenly | |
| —adv, —adj | |
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
vixen
O.E. *fyxen (implied in adj. fyxan), fem. of fox (see fox, and cf. M.H.G. vühsinne, Ger. füchsin). Solitary English survival of the Germanic feminine suffix -en, -in (cf. O.E. gyden "goddess;" mynecen "nun," from munuc "monk;" wlyfen "she-wolf"). The fig. sense "ill-tempered
woman" is attested from 1575. The spelling shift from -f- to -v- began late 1500s (see V).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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