wickedness

Inherited from Middle English wikkednesse, wikkednes, equivalent to wicked +‎ -ness.

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪkɪdnəs/

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wickedness (countable and uncountable, plural wickednesses)

1. The state of being wicked; evil disposition; immorality.
   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 84, column 2:

     So, if a Sonne that is by his Father ſent about Merchandize, doe ſinfully miſcarry vpon the Sea; the imputation of his vvickedneſſe, by your rule, ſhould be impoſed vpon his Father that ſent him: […]

   • 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 227d:

     We speak of wickedness as something in the soul different from virtue.

2. A wicked or sinful thing or act; morally bad or objectionable behaviour.

• 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 6:5:

  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

• “wickedness”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “wickedness”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.