wicked tongue
1
8.1
- noun
:
lengua afilada
- Watch what you say; your wicked tongue might offend someone unintentionally.
Examples
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Her wicked tongue can hurt others if she doesn't choose her words carefully.
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And curb your wicked tongue!
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Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.
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The devil controls its wicked tongue.
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He was known for his wicked tongue, often making cutting remarks about his peers.
Synonyms
27
9.5
Bitter, angry language that attacks people
4
6.1
A habit of speaking in a harsh, critical way
1
9.8
A sharp, bitter way of speaking that hurts people
Speech or writing that is sharply critical and makes people feel bad
A sharp, bitter way of speaking that hurts people
Antonyms
How Harsh
- Literature
1
8.1
4
6.1
210
3.8
20
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a tendency to speak harshly or critically' is directly derivable from combining 'wicked' (morally bad, harsh) with 'tongue' (a way of speaking); the adjective simply qualifies the speech as malicious or severe. This adjective+noun composition follows a regular, predictable pattern and mirrors cross‑linguistic ways of describing harsh speech, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase wicked tongue creates the image of a tongue that is wicked, as if someone's words were sharp or like poison that hurt people. So it means 'a habit of saying harsh or hurtful things about others'.