1
as in mischief
playful, reckless behavior that is not intended to cause serious harm
a couple of live wires who got into all kinds of wickedness during their vacation in Las Vegas
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sinfulness
the state or quality of being utterly evil
the movie featured a villain of unadulterated wickedness
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Recent Examples of wickedness
The crucial role of the broomstick in the Wicked movies—and earlier Wizard of Oz stories—reflects a long history of women’s mobility being connected to perceptions of wickedness, as women reclaimed a tool of domestic labor to gain both physical and social liberation.
—
Time, 21 Nov. 2025
Unlike horror movies built on shadowy boogeymen bouncing out of the dark, The Witch's tone stays quiet, swarming around themes of bewitchery, black magic, and wickedness without overdoing it.
—Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
No parent or child should ever be subjected to this wickedness.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Sep. 2025
There are undoubtedly people who take a strange pride in the city and state’s blatant wickedness.
—Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for wickedness
Time, 21 Nov. 2025
Unlike horror movies built on shadowy boogeymen bouncing out of the dark, The Witch's tone stays quiet, swarming around themes of bewitchery, black magic, and wickedness without overdoing it.
—Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
No parent or child should ever be subjected to this wickedness.
—Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Sep. 2025
There are undoubtedly people who take a strange pride in the city and state’s blatant wickedness.
—Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for wickedness
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wickedness
Noun
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Becerra is also being charged with one count of felony burglary and one count of felony criminal mischief, bringing the total number of charges to 28.—
Brian Maass,
CBS News,
29 Jan. 2026
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Jose Mourinho has never lost his sense of mischief.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Denver author Josiah Hesse was raised by Evangelical parents in churches that believe in the torments of hell, that their poverty is due to their sinfulness and lack of faith.—
Sandra Dallas,
Denver Post,
1 Feb. 2026
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This lawless crew shares dramaturgical DNA with the vice figures from medieval morality plays, personifications of sinfulness who would confide their schemes to the audience and make theatergoers their co-conspirators in a riveting game that obviously left its mark on a young Shakespeare.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Jan. 2026
Noun
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And so the playfulness, the fluidity, and then there was something almost feline or animal or catlike about the character in my imagination.—
Scott Huver,
PEOPLE,
26 Jan. 2026
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It was indicated by Michael Serna, executive creative director with Disney Live Entertainment, that such a level of playfulness would continue.—
Todd Martens,
Boston Herald,
25 Jan. 2026
Noun
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On one side, a satanic figure named Randall Flagg who gathers his forces of badness to Las Vegas; on the other, the good guys, led by 108-year-old Mother Abigail in, of all places, Boulder.—
Barbara Ellis,
Denver Post,
15 Jan. 2026
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The show premiered over Thanksgiving weekend, when people were tired and full and bored (and probably also horny), and countered our world’s unceasing badness with its world’s buoyant sweetness.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Mustard and vinegar provide the devilment for a flavorful bite, particularly when topped with a scattering of scallions and paprika.—
SAVEUR Editors,
Saveur,
5 Feb. 2025
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But even if truffles are beyond your pay grade, there is plenty of enjoyment to be had in the sheer devilment portrayed in this informative and appetizing book.—
Eugenia Bone,
WSJ,
10 July 2019
Noun
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All three play key roles in the library scene—in which Walker’s revolutionaries, seeking justice for a racial atrocity, hold Morgan’s collection hostage—but none had visited the real thing, on Thirty-sixth Street.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
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The city saw some of the terror group’s worst atrocities.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
18 Jan. 2026
Noun
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That was really what helped me into the character and into her evilness.—
William Earl,
Variety,
4 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Wickedness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wickedness. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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