different between wicked vs obscene

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

English

Etymology

From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obsc?nus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *?weyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh?iwo-).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?si?n/
• (General American) enPR: ?b-s?n?, IPA^(key): /?b?sin/
• Rhymes: -i?n
• Hyphenation: ob?scene

Adjective

obscene (comparative obscener or more obscene, superlative obscenest or most obscene) (see usage notes)

1. Offensive to current standards of decency or morality.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene

   Antonyms: decent, moral, nonobscene
2. Lewd or lustful.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene

   Antonyms: chaste, nonobscene, pure
3. Disgusting or repulsive.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene

   Antonym: nonobscene
4. (by extension) Beyond all reason; excessive.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excessive

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:moderate
5. (chiefly Britain, criminal law) Liable to corrupt or deprave.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene

   Antonyms: decent, nonobscene

Usage notes

• The comparative form obscener and superlative form obscenest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscene and most obscene.
• In criminal law, many jurisdictions distinguish between the terms obscene, indecent, and profane when regulating broadcasted content, with obscene typically being the most severe of the three categories.

Alternative forms

• obscæne (obsolete)

Derived terms

• nonobscene
• obscenely
• obsceneness (rare)
• obscenometer (humorous, obsolete)

Related terms

• obscenity
• obscenous (obsolete)
• obscenousness (obsolete)

Translations

References

Further reading

• obscenity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Latin

Adjective

obsc?ne

1. vocative masculine singular of obsc?nus

References

• obscene in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• obscene in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• obscene in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Romanian

Adjective

obscene f pl

1. feminine plural of obscen