vice
noun · adjective · verb
Simple meaning
Any of different crimes related to weapons, prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, tobacco.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
vysIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈvaɪs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
law
Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to weapons, prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.
Bad or immoral behaviour.
One who acts in place of a superior.
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.
A tool for drawing lead into cames, or flat grooved rods, for casements.
commonwealth
An instrument consisting of two jaws, closing by a screw, lever, cam, or the like, for holding work, as in filing.
adjective
In place of; subordinate to; designating a person below another in rank
verb
To clamp with or as with a vise.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to weapons, prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.
Used this way, vice is a specialist word with a clearly unfavourable pull. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use vice
- “Vice offends the moral standards of the community.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
One ranking below or serving in the place of a chairman.
A deputy or assistant to someone bearing the title of chancellor.
A vice that is illegal.
The tenure of a vice president.
An executive officer ranking immediately below a president.
The vice president of the United States who presides over the United States Senate.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.