vixen

noun

vix·​en ˈvik-sən 

1

: a female fox

Red foxes are a common sight at the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia—in 2016, one particularly personable vixen was even deemed the official mascot of the graveyard.

—Katy Kelleher

2

: a shrewish, ill-tempered woman

But maybe these women aren't evil vixens or cold-hearted harpies. Maybe they're just, you know, resourceful.

—Andrea Bartz

3

informal : a sexually attractive woman

In this spy spoof, our hero, aided by a sexy vixen, … saves the world from a power-mad despot …

—Stephen Rebello

vixenish

ˈvik-s(ə-)nish 

adjective

Did you know?

Vixens and Foxes

Vixen literally refers to a female fox, but it has two very distinctive extended meanings: “a shrew” and “a sexy woman.” How is it that the word took such semantically divergent paths?

The “combative, bad-tempered woman” sense has a very long history in our language, going back as far as the 16th century and extending well into the 20th. It may be found in Shakespeare and Swift as well as in latter-day descriptions of mothers-in-law and the names of gun boats. By mid-century, however, vixen begins to be used of glamorous and attractive women. Perhaps its application to female characters who combined combative and seductive qualities led to the word's reinterpretation. Or perhaps it was influenced by fox, another term for an attractive young woman that made its appearance in English around this time.

Synonyms of vixen

• shrew

Examples of vixen in a Sentence

why anyone puts up with that vixen's sharp tongue is beyond me

Recent Examples on the Web

During a recent appearance on VladTV, the iconic video vixen opened up about her experience touring the country at 14 years old and how the period exposed her to predatory behavior from associates of 2 Live Crew and other celebrities. —Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 29 Sep. 2025

The album’s campaign and editorial aesthetic has made references to everything from classic Grace Jones images to hair metal vixens. —Brittany Spanos, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2025

Some say she’s got the video vixen allure that would fit her seamlessly into the era over two decades later. —Essence, 6 Aug. 2025

Today’s Wordle Etymology The word vixen comes from Middle English fixen, a southern dialectal form of fox with a feminine suffix -en (similar to how ox → oxen for plural). —Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English (southern dialect) *vixen, alteration of Middle English fixen, from Old English fyxe, feminine of fox

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

vixen

noun

vix·​en ˈvik-sən 

: a female fox