different between hurtful vs wicked

English

Alternative forms

• hurtfull (archaic)

Etymology

hurt +? -ful

Adjective

hurtful (comparative more hurtful, superlative most hurtful)

1. Tending to impair or damage; injurious; occasioning loss or injury.
   • 1649: John Milton, Eikonoklastes

     A good principle not rightly understood may prove as hurtful as a bad.

   • 1890: George Henry Rohé, Text-book of hygiene

     Well-cultivated soils are often healthy; nor at present has it been proved that the use of manure is hurtful.

2. Tending to hurt someone's feelings; insulting.

Synonyms

• (tending to impair or damage): pernicious, harmful, baneful, prejudicial, detrimental, disadvantageous, mischievous, injurious, noxious, unwholesome, destructive; see also Thesaurus:harmful

Related terms

• hurt
• hurtfully
• hurtfulness

Translations

References

• hurtful in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• hurtful in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• hurtful at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• ruthful

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English wicked, wikked, an alteration of Middle English wicke, wikke (“morally perverse, evil, wicked”). Possibly from an adjectival use of Old English wi??a (“wizard, sorcerer”), from Proto-Germanic *wikkô (“necromancer, sorcerer”), though the phonology makes this theory difficult to explain.

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?k??d, IPA^(key): /?w?k?d/

Adjective

wicked (comparative wickeder or more wicked, superlative wickedest or most wicked)

1. Evil or mischievous by nature.

   Synonyms: evil, immoral, malevolent, malicious, nefarious, twisted, villainous; see also Thesaurus:evil

2. (slang) Excellent; awesome; masterful.

   Synonyms: awesome, bad, cool, dope, excellent, far out, groovy, hot, rad; see also Thesaurus:excellent

Usage notes

Use of "wicked" as an adjective rather than an adverb is considered an error in the Boston dialect. However, that is not necessarily the case in other New England dialects.

Derived terms

• wickedly
• wickedness
• wicked tongue

Translations

Adverb

wicked (not comparable)

1. (slang, New England, Britain) Very, extremely.

   Synonyms: hella, helluv (both Californian/regional, and both potentially considered mildly vulgar)

Translations

Etymology 2

See wick.

Pronunciation

• enPR: w?kt, IPA^(key): /w?kt/

Verb

wicked

1. simple past tense and past participle of wick

Adjective

wicked (not comparable)

1. Having a wick.

Derived terms

• multiwicked

Etymology 3

See wick.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w?k?d/

Adjective

wicked

1. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) Active; brisk.
2. (Britain, dialect, chiefly Yorkshire) Infested with maggots.
3. Alternative form of wick, as applying to inanimate objects only.

References

Middle English

Adjective

wicked

1. Alternative form of wikked