different between notorious vs wicked

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin n?t?rius (“widely or fully known”), from n?tus (“known”), perfect passive participle of n?sc? (“get to know”). First attested 1548. Negative sense appeared in the 17th century.

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: n?-tôr??-?s, n?-tôr??-?s IPA^(key): /n??t??i?s/, /no??t??i?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /n???t?????s/
• Rhymes: -???i?s
• Hyphenation: no?to?ri?ous

Adjective

notorious (comparative more notorious, superlative most notorious)

1. Widely known, especially for something negative; infamous.

   Synonyms: ill-famed, infamous

   Antonym: famous

Derived terms

• notoriously
• notoriousness
• unnotorious

Related terms

• notoriety

Translations

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