different between wicked vs vulgar

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

Alternative forms

• (early modern English): vulgare

Etymology

Borrowed into Middle English from Latin vulg?ris, from volgus, vulgus (“mob; common folk”), from Proto-Indo-European *wl?k- (compare Welsh gwala (“plenty, sufficiency”), Ancient Greek ???? (halía, “assembly”) ????? (eilé?, “to compress”), Old Church Slavonic ?????? (velik?, “great”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?v?l.??/
• (US) enPR: v?l?g?r, IPA^(key): /?v?l.??/

Adjective

vulgar (comparative more vulgar or vulgarer, superlative most vulgar or vulgarest)

1. Debased, uncouth, distasteful, obscene.
   • The construction worker made a vulgar suggestion to the girls walking down the street.
2. (classical sense) Having to do with ordinary, common people.
   • 1834-1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

     The mechanical process of multiplying books had brought the New Testament in the vulgar tongue within the reach of every class.

   • 1860, G. Syffarth, "A Remarkable Seal in Dr. Abbott's Museum at New York", Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, age 265

     Further, the same sacred name in other monuments precedes the vulgar name of King Takellothis, the sixth of the XXII. Dyn., as we have seen.

3. (especially taxonomy) Common, usual; of the typical kind.

   the vulgar bush brown, Bicyclus vulgaris

   • 1869, Richard Francis Burton, The Highlands of the Brazil, page 85:

     A vulture (V. aura), probably the Acabiry first described by Azara, is here called […] the hunter. It resembles in form the vulgar bird, but it flies high. The head is red, and the wings are black with silver lining, like the noble Bateleur of Africa.

Synonyms

• (obscene): inappropriate, obscene, debased, uncouth, offensive, ignoble, mean, profane
• (ordinary): common, ordinary, popular

Derived terms

• (obscene): vulgarity, vulgarian
• (ordinary): vulgar fraction, vulgate, Vulgate
• vulgar fraction
• Vulgar Latin
• Vulgar Era

Translations

Noun

vulgar (plural vulgars)

1. (classicism) A common, ordinary person.
   • 2016, Evan Gottlieb, Juliet Shields, Representing Place in British Literature and Culture, 1660-1830

     Popular antiquarian writings […] frequently focused on the regional vulgars' superstitious beliefs regarding the dead and their ongoing presence—such as popular funeral rites or the vulgars' fear of church yards.

2. (collective) The common people.
3. The vernacular tongue or common language of a country.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vulg?ris.

Adjective

vulgar (masculine and feminine plural vulgars)

1. vulgar

Derived terms

• vulgarment

Related terms

• vulgaritat

Further reading

• “vulgar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin vulg?ris.

Adjective

vulgar m or f (plural vulgares)

1. common to the people, vulgar
2. ordinary, undistinguished
3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical
4. simple, unintelligent

Synonyms

• (ordinary): prosaico
• (popular): común, popular

Antonyms

• (popular): científico, técnico

Related terms

• vulgaridade
• vulgarismo
• vulgo

Further reading

• “vulgar” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin vulg?ris.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /vu?.??a?/
• Hyphenation: vul?gar

Adjective

vulgar (plural vulgares, comparable)

1. common to the people, vulgar
2. ordinary, undistinguished

   Synonym: prosaico

3. popular, commonly understood, as opposed to scientific or technical

   Synonyms: comum, popular

4. simple, unintelligent

Antonyms

• (popular): científico, técnico

Related terms

• vulgaridade
• vulgarismo
• vulgo

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vulgaire, Latin vulgaris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vul??ar/

Adjective

vulgar m or n (feminine singular vulgar?, masculine plural vulgari, feminine and neuter plural vulgare)

1. vulgar

Declension

Synonyms

• grosolan
• ordinar
• comun

Related terms

• vulg

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin vulg?ris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bul??a?/, [bul???a?]

Adjective

vulgar (plural vulgares)

1. vulgar

Derived terms

Related terms

• vulgo
• vulgaridad

Further reading

• “vulgar” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.