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Added 9 October 2026

vice

/vaɪs/ noun

In Latin: vitium Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about vice at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Bad or immoral behaviour. (Especially often, a habit that harms oneself or others)
Pride is a vice, not a virtue.
Any of various crimes related (depending on jurisdiction) to weapons, prostitution, pornography, gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or drugs.
Clipping of vice squad.

noun

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.

verb

Alternative spelling of vise (“to hold or squeeze with a vice”).

adjective

in place of; subordinate to; designating a person below another in rank
vice president

Origin

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English vice, from Old French vice, from Latin vitium (“fault or blemish”). Displaced native Old English unþēaw.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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