Etymologically
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wicked

Etymology and origin of the English word wicked

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1200
Ultimate origin
Old English (wicca)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈwɪk.ɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from earlier wicke, wick, wicked, evil (1154),[2][3][4] perhaps an adjective use of Old English wicca (“wizard”) (see witch),[2][3][4][5] and -ed.[2][6] It is formed as if a past participle, but there is no matching verb; compare wretched from wretch.[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Evil, morally bad: probably before 1200, in Layamon's Brut,[2] about 1200 in Etymonline; of a person, about 1275 in the OED.[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it also meant cruel or fierce, of animals savage (14th century),[7] and harmful or pernicious (1340).[7] The noun use, wicked people, is from the mid-14th century,[3] and the adverb from the early 15th.[3] No peace for the wicked alludes to Isaiah.[5] The Wicked Fairy and Wicked Stepmother of fairy tales are from 1897.[7] Like bad, wicked has reversed its meaning in slang, “excellent”, attested by 1920 in F. Scott Fitzgerald;[3][5] Merriam-Webster dates the adverb “very” (wicked good) from 1980.[6]

Timeline

  • 1154 – wicke, wicked.[2]
  • before 1200 – wicked.[2]
  • 1340 – harmful.[7]
  • 1897 – the Wicked Stepmother.[7]
  • 1920 – excellent (slang).[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Evil or morally bad.
  2. Playfully mischievous: a wicked grin.
  3. Severe or distressing; harmful.
  4. (slang) Very good; excellent.

Adverb

  1. (slang, chiefly New England) Very; extremely.

Noun

  1. the wicked: wicked people.

Word family

  • wickedly
  • wickedness
  • unwicked

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Wicked.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/wicked. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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