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
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
Meanwhile, voices opposed to war and sanctions have been viciously silenced.
—Jamal Abdi, The Hill, 4 Aug. 2025
That move prompted Prabowo to turn viciously on Jokowi.
—Ben Bland, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2024
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
Meanwhile, voices opposed to war and sanctions have been viciously silenced.
—Jamal Abdi, The Hill, 4 Aug. 2025
That move prompted Prabowo to turn viciously on Jokowi.
—Ben Bland, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for viciously
Adverb
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Doxxing involves sharing someone’s personal or private information maliciously.—
Julia Marnin,
Sacbee.com,
24 Sep. 2025
-
Google and other firms that have delved deeply into generative AI employ a number of techniques to prevent AI from acting maliciously.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
22 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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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
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Joe Garcia spoke bitterly about the decline of governance on both sides of the Straits of Florida.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
-
At the start of the season, the Braves lost seven in a row, setting the tone for a bitterly disappointing campaign.—
Jackson Roberts,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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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
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Under the hood, the A17 Pro processor is wickedly powerful, and a massive terabyte of storage outclasses every phone in this price bracket.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
12 Sep. 2025
Adverb
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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 7 Oct. 2025.
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