wicked(1) (iou) and tableau (iou)

wicked(1) (iou)

wicked adjective1, noun, & adverb. ME.

A. adjective.
Marked by, or having a character disposed to, serious and wilful wrongdoing (freq. cruel and injurious acts); morally depraved. Also hyperbol., shamefully extravagant or sensuous. ME.
Wicked Bible an edition of 1631, in which the seventh commandment was misprinted 'Thou shalt commit adultery'.
Dennis Potter The boy might have wicked thoughts, like wanting his father to die. R. Mayer Children were..terrified by Snow White's wicked stepmother. Heritage Outlook Buildings towards which the wicked developer is driving his bulldozer. A. Lambert She thought lesbianism was unnatural and wicked.
b. Spiteful, malicious, ill-tempered; (of an animal) vicious. LME.
James Hogg It's hard to gar a wicked cout leave off flinging. G. W. Target I've got a wicked tongue and I've probably been unfair.
a. Harmful, trying, unpleasant; (of a road) difficult, impassable (now US). Formerly also, (of a wound) malignant. Now chiefly dial. or colloq. ME.
G. A. Smith Tents may be carried away by wicked gusts. Newmarket Journal I didn't sleep a wink. The pain was wicked. Times To work with he was wicked He was such a perfectionist. Amateur Gardening Pyracanthas..possess rather wicked prickles.
b. Of bad quality; poor. arch. LME.
Horace Walpole They talk wicked French.
Playfully mischievous; roguish. E17.
She Wicked impersonations of Margaret Thatcher.
a. Dauntingly skilful; mean, formidable. slang (orig. US). E20.
Scott Fitzgerald Tell 'em to play 'Admiration'!..Phoebe and I are going to shake a wicked calf.
b. Excellent, great, wonderful. slang. L20.
Time Out I've been to..Acid House parties. We have a wicked time but never..take any drugs.
b. absol. as noun.
The class of wicked people. LME.
no peace for the wicked, no rest for the wicked [Isaiah 48:22, 57:21] (freq. joc.) no rest or tranquillity for the speaker; incessant activity, responsibility, or work.
A wicked person. L15-M19.
C. adverb. Wickedly; fiercely, savagely, furiously; very badly, terribly. Now colloq. LME.
R. Banks My father laid into me something wicked.
wickedly adverb ME.
wickedness noun wicked character, conduct, or speech; a wicked act: ME.

tableau (iou)

tableau noun. . L17.
[French from Old French tablel dim. of table TABLE noun: see -EL2.]
1. A picture; fig. a picturesque presentation or description. L17.
Apollo One tableau showed the costumes that might have been worn to Madame Bovary's..wedding.
2. A table, a schedule; an official list. L18.
b. Math. In full simplex tableau. A table displaying the constraints in problems of the type soluble by the simplex method. M20.
3. a. A group of people etc. forming a picturesque scene. E19.
b. = tableau vivant below. E19.
J. Baldwin We..stood there as though we were posing for a tableau.
c. Theatrical. A motionless representation of the action at some (esp. critical) stage in a play; a stage direction for this. Also (transf.), the sudden creation of a striking or dramatic situation. M19.
R. Lindner They faced each Other, frozen in a tableau of mutual hatred. Dance A succession of tableaux and mock ballets.
4. Cards. The arrangement of the cards as laid out in a game of patience. L19.
Phrases: tableau vivant a silent and motionless representation of a character, scene, incident, etc., by a person or group of people; transf. a picturesque actual scene.
Comb.: tableau curtain Theatrical each of a pair of curtains drawn open by a diagonal cord.

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