viperous

9.2

Being cruel and speaking sharp words like a poisonous snake

adjective
/ˈvaɪpərəs/

Literature

: viperino

The novel's villain is known for his viperous schemes and cruel words.

Examples

He avoided his viperous coworker after their heated disagreement.
Her viperous remarks made everyone in the room uncomfortable.
What a viperous way to treat your friends!
His viperous remarks hurt her feelings deeply.
Her viperous comments during the meeting made everyone uncomfortable.
He has a viperous attitude that often leads to conflicts with his peers.
The politician's viperous remarks showed his true disdain for his opponents.

Synonyms

vicious

vsviperous

222 5.2

Deliberately cruel and likely to hurt someone

leans toward spiteful malice rather than outright physical violence

ruthless

vsviperous

152 4.9

Not feeling sorry for others and hurting them on purpose

focuses on personal spite and malice rather than only lack of pity

cold-blooded

vsviperous

Offensive

54 6.1

Showing no pity and acting cruel on purpose

often implies spiteful malice and personal spite rather than detached cruelty

vindictive

vsviperous

46 7.9

Wanting strongly to hurt someone who hurt you

is general spiteful malice rather than specifically seeking revenge

vengeful

vsviperous

37 6.9

Wanting to harm someone because they hurt you

is about malice or spite beyond a motive of revenge

poisonous

vsviperous

26 6.0

Full of strong hate and meant to hurt people's feelings

emphasizes animal like malice as well as emotional harm

spiteful

vsviperous

23 5.1

Wanting to hurt or upset someone on purpose

often suggests animal like malice rather than plain spite

vitriolic

vsviperous

Offensive

10 9.3

Harsh, angry words that strongly hurt someone

is broader covering behavior or character rather than only scathing speech

venomous

vsviperous

6 6.3

Showing strong hate and wanting to hurt someone

adds the idea of an animal striking image beyond mere hatred

mischievous

vsviperous

5 4.1

Something that tries to cause harm or trouble

is more seriously spiteful and harmful rather than light troublemaking

revengeful

vsviperous

2 5.8

Wanting to hurt someone who hurt you

covers broader malicious character rather than only retaliation

sharky

vsviperous

Informal

1 8.8

Acting in a pushy, unfair way to get advantage, often in business

focuses on personal spite and treachery rather than business aggression

viperish

vsviperous

Literature

8.6

Being mean and trying to hurt people in a secret, sneaky way

is the same in meaning but differs only in word form

venomous-tongued

vsviperous

Literature

9.4

Saying harsh, mean things that hurt people

is broader applying to behavior or nature rather than only language

venomed

vsviperous

9.5

Showing strong hate and trying to hurt someone

is less specific to speech and adds animal like imagery

waspy

vsviperous

8.8

Quick to speak in a rude or angry way that hurts others

expresses stronger deliberate malice rather than mere irritability

vixenish

vsviperous

Offensive

9.9

Acting mean and saying sharp words to hurt others

is the same malice but not limited to a specific gender

currish

vsviperous

Offensive

9.9

Being mean and cowardly toward other people

is more openly malicious rather than merely cowardly or contemptible

contumelious

vsviperous

Offensive

9.9

Being arrogantly rude and openly disrespectful to other people

targets insult and contempt rather than planned harm or treachery

pachydermatous

vsviperous

Literature

9.9

Not easily upset by what others say or feel

is more actively malicious and spiteful rather than merely insensitive

Antonyms

kind

534 1.0

Being helpful and caring toward other people

harmless

231 1.0

Not able to hurt people or things

How Malicious

venomous

6 6.3

malicious

89 5.8

viperous

Literature

9.2

spiteful

23 5.1

mean

699 2.2

unfriendly

22 1.9

Surface Forms

viperous positive

Morphology

viperous = viper (transparent) = viper + ous

Formed by 'viper' + '-ous' giving an adjective meaning 'resembling or characteristic of a viper'; the metaphorical extension to spitefulness is predictable from the base.

Etymology

Viperous comes from viper, a word for a poisonous snake, so it brings to mind a snake's 'bite' or 'venom'. That's why calling someone viperous means their words or actions are sharp, cruel, and meant to hurt.