Synonyms of viciousness

viciousness

noun

1

as in malice

the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm

simple viciousness can be the only reason for spreading such vile, unfounded rumors

Synonyms & Similar Words

• malice
• venom
• cruelty
• hatred
• hatefulness
• maliciousness
• meanness
• spite
• malevolence
• hostility
• spitefulness
• malignity
• jealousy
• malignancy
• contempt
• nastiness
• bitterness
• disgust
• spleen
• malignance
• despite
• hate
• disdain
• cattiness
• animosity
• antagonism
• vindictiveness
• abusiveness
• enmity
• resentment
• abhorrence
• rancor
• loathing
• distaste
• antipathy
• revulsion
• horror
• abomination
• repulsion
• vengefulness
• repugnance
• mean-spiritedness
• jaundice
• grudge
• virulence
• ill will
• invidiousness
• execration
• bile
• scorn
• vitriol
• bitchiness
• aversion
• bitchery
• despicableness
• pique

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• love
• devotion
• passion
• friendliness
• civility
• hospitality
• amiability
• cordiality
• amity
• infatuation
• worship
• adoration
• ardor
• kindness
• affection
• veneration
• sympathy
• understanding
• amicability
• friendship
• kindliness
• charity
• empathy
• goodwill
• comity

2

as in cruelty

disposition to willfully inflict pain and suffering on others

the unspeakable viciousness of some dictators in the past

Synonyms & Similar Words

• cruelty
• brutality
• savagery
• atrocity
• barbarity
• sadism
• savageness
• heartlessness
• inhumanity
• cruelness
• murderousness
• fiendishness
• truculence
• wantonness
• barbarousness
• ruthlessness
• inhumanness
• ferocity
• mercilessness
• atrociousness
• meanness
• ferociousness
• fierceness
• pitilessness
• grimness
• bloodthirstiness
• oppressiveness
• malevolence
• spitefulness
• maliciousness
• hatefulness
• bloodlust
• malignity
• hard-heartedness
• unfeelingness
• sanguinity
• harshness
• nastiness
• fellness
• cattiness
• heavy-handedness
• despitefulness
• sanguineness
• hardhandedness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sympathy
• compassion
• kindness
• humanity
• humaneness
• benignity
• tenderness
• warmth
• tenderheartedness
• kindheartedness
• good-heartedness
• warmness
• pity
• mercy
• leniency
• clemency
• warmheartedness
• charitableness
• mercifulness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of viciousness

His oldest son, Rigby, was about to start high school, which filled Flanagan with dread about the viciousness that might await him. — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026

The viciousness of Manson’s crimes left a lasting mark on American culture and Manson himself achieved a perverse popularity — which has not dissipated in the years since his death. — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 15 Aug. 2026

The jury further determined that the crimes involved a threat of great bodily harm and demonstrated a high degree of cruelty, viciousness or callousness, the district attorney's office said. — Richard Ramos, CBS News, 18 June 2026

The expediency of their exchanges (back and forth over a couple of weeks) electrified the planet, especially the mounting viciousness of Lamar’s attack (ad hominem all the way). — New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026

The horror has come now like a storm— what if this night prefigured the night after death— what if all thereafter was an eternal quivering on the edge of an abyss, with everything base and vicious in oneself urging one forward and the baseness and viciousness of the world just ahead. — Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026

Down 14 points with 30 seconds left, the viciousness of the hit seemed more about injuring than winning a game that was already settled. — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 7 Jan. 2026

The casual viciousness of children is the centerpiece of the film, which has triggered audiences who grew up in the same era as Polinger. — William Earl, Variety, 23 Dec. 2025

Hinkey finds both viciousness and vulnerability within Red Feather, crafting, through his fierce physicality and long, unblinking gazes, a man aware of the world steadily leaving him behind. — Kathryn Vanarendonk, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025