as in hatefully
in a mean or spiteful manner
the administrator viciously denied me the time off that I needed to attend my dear aunt's funeral
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Recent Examples of viciously
Krasznahorkai was born in Hungary in 1954, two years before the Soviets viciously crushed an uprising in Budapest, and his first two novels are soaked through with an atmosphere of political terror.
—
Walt Hunter, The Atlantic, 9 Oct. 2025
Sometimes, the truth is viciously fought over.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
To protect her face, Campoy used her arm, which the squirrel clawed viciously.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
In this week's PEOPLE cover story, the matriarch, 80, recalls the scary moment a camel viciously attacked Navarone (her son with ex Marco Garibaldi) during a visit to a friend's animal sanctuary in California's San Fernando Valley.
—Brianne Tracy, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
She was viciously beaten after having been detained by an officer who accused her of not dressing appropriately in public, in defiance of the country’s hijab rule, which broadly governs what women should wear.
—Fatemeh Jamalpour, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2025
While courageously intervening to protect a fellow passenger, he was viciously attacked.
—Judith Y. Kim, The Washington Examiner, 26 Aug. 2025
In broad daylight, a group of men on motorbikes can be seen swarming and viciously beating another rider, allegedly for stealing their bike.
—Wbff Staff, Baltimore Sun, 16 Aug. 2025
For instance, the first episode sees a man viciously attacked in his van, setting off a mystery for Wednesday to solve.
—Daron James, IndieWire, 7 Aug. 2025
Walt Hunter, The Atlantic, 9 Oct. 2025
Sometimes, the truth is viciously fought over.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
To protect her face, Campoy used her arm, which the squirrel clawed viciously.
—Christopher Cann, USA Today, 25 Sep. 2025
In this week's PEOPLE cover story, the matriarch, 80, recalls the scary moment a camel viciously attacked Navarone (her son with ex Marco Garibaldi) during a visit to a friend's animal sanctuary in California's San Fernando Valley.
—Brianne Tracy, PEOPLE, 19 Sep. 2025
She was viciously beaten after having been detained by an officer who accused her of not dressing appropriately in public, in defiance of the country’s hijab rule, which broadly governs what women should wear.
—Fatemeh Jamalpour, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2025
While courageously intervening to protect a fellow passenger, he was viciously attacked.
—Judith Y. Kim, The Washington Examiner, 26 Aug. 2025
In broad daylight, a group of men on motorbikes can be seen swarming and viciously beating another rider, allegedly for stealing their bike.
—Wbff Staff, Baltimore Sun, 16 Aug. 2025
For instance, the first episode sees a man viciously attacked in his van, setting off a mystery for Wednesday to solve.
—Daron James, IndieWire, 7 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for viciously
Adverb
-
On Thursday, the president’s lawyers refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, alleging its reporters have knowingly and maliciously maligned his achievements.—
Todd Spangler,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Hernandez Santana was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of firing a 9 mm handgun within a school zone, possessing a firearm within a school zone and willfully or maliciously interfering with or causing interference to any radio communications of any station in the September shooting.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
16 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
In other words, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.—
Derek Robertson,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
Taylor makes a persuasive case for how artists can grow, if incrementally and maybe bitterly, amid so much numbing digital noise.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
-
Fede knows the truth, but Roberto doesn’t, and Fede has held that over Antonio ever since, with Antonio bitterly blaming himself for his wife’s death.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
12 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Midler and Hawn co-starred alongside Keaton in 1996’s The First Wives Club, with the stars portraying divorcées who wonderfully, wickedly take revenge on their terrible former spouses.—
Althea Legaspi,
Rolling Stone,
11 Oct. 2025
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Finally, the board will have the good sense to just snap their host laptop shut, but not before a wickedly riotous 10 minutes or so in which absolutely no one backs away from the keyboard.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
This is a high watermark for the European far right, a once fringe movement whose virulently anti-immigration, anti-Islam and culture-war politics were shunned by the mainstream just a decade ago.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
13 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
Images of Labubus beamed malevolently from their packaging, as if gloating in their unreachability.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
20 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Viciously.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/viciously. Accessed 22 Oct. 2025.
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