vicious
adj.adj. cruel, violent, or meant to cause serious harm. You use this to describe people, animals, or even cycles of bad events that are hard to stop.
adj. characterised by a desire to inflict pain or suffering; marked by extreme violence or ferocity. Often used to describe abstract cycles where one problem causes another, making the situation worse.
The dog gave a vicious growl when I approached.
The boxer was known for his vicious left hook that often ended matches in the first round.
Economists warned that the country was trapped in a vicious cycle of rising inflation and stagnant wages, where each factor exacerbated the other.
PIE word *dwóh₁ From Middle English vicious, from Anglo-Norman vicious, (modern French vicieux), from Latin vitiōsus, from vitium (“fault, vice”). Equivalent to vice + -ous.
Commonly used in the fixed phrase 'vicious cycle' or 'vicious circle' to describe a self-reinforcing negative situation.