# vicarious vs vicious

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### vicarious
*adjective · IPA /vɪˈkɛəɹi.əs/ · frequency rank #47,405*
Delegated.

### vicious
*adjective · IPA /ˈvɪʃəs/ · frequency rank #9,270*
Violent, destructive and cruel.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/vicarious-vs-vicious