Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VI'CIOUS, a. [Fr. vicieux; L. vitiosus.]

1. Defective; imperfect; as, a system of government vicious and unsound. – Harte.
2. Addicted to vice; corrupt in principles or conduct; depraved; wicked; habitually transgressing the moral law; as, a vicious race of men; vicious parents; vicious children.
3. Corrupt; contrary to moral principles or to rectitude; as, vicious examples; vicious conduct.
4. Corrupt, in a physical sense; foul; impure; insalubrious; as, vicious air.
5. Corrupt; not genuine or pure; as, vicious language; vicious idioms.
6. Unruly; refractory; not well tamed or broken; as, a vicious horse. New England.