vice.
Bad or immoral behaviour. (Especially often, a habit that harms oneself or others)
Meaning & usage
Bad or immoral behaviour. (Especially often, a habit that harms oneself or others)
Pride is a vice, not a virtue.
Smoking was a vice Sally picked up in high school.
Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to weapons, prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.
Clipping of vice squad.
A defect in the temper or behaviour of a horse, such as to make the animal dangerous, to injure its health, or to diminish its usefulness.
Where this word comes from
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English vice, from Old French vice, from Latin vitium (“fault or blemish”). Displaced native Old English unþēaw.
Alternative spelling of vise (“mechanical screw apparatus used for clamping”).
A tool for drawing lead into cames, or flat grooved rods, for casements.
A winding or spiral staircase.
A grip or grasp.
Where this word comes from
See vise.
in place of; subordinate to; designating a person below another in rank
vice president
vice admiral
Where this word comes from
From Latin vice (“in place of”), ablative form of vicis. Compare French fois (“time”) and Spanish vez (“time, turn”).
Instead of; in place of; versus.
Where this word comes from
From Latin vice (“in place of”), ablative form of vicis. Compare French fois (“time”) and Spanish vez (“time, turn”).
One who acts in place of a superior.
Where this word comes from
From Latin vice (“in place of”), ablative form of vicis. Compare French fois (“time”) and Spanish vez (“time, turn”).
Alternative spelling of vise (“to hold or squeeze with a vice”).
Where this word comes from
See vise.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.