Vicious - viscous

Don't confuse these two adjectives - nor allow your spellchecker to let you use the wrong one.

• Vicious (pronounced 'VISH-es', IPA: /ˈvɪʃ əs)/ is derived from the noun vice (the opposite of 'virtue'), which may help you remember that the central consonant is a simple '-c-'. Although originally in English 'a vice' could be any of the sins held to be deadly by the Christian churches, it is becoming more limited to bitter, malevolent and hurtful behaviour, such as cruelty and rage. (The 'Vice Squad' as a department of a British police force, however, concentrates on sexual offences.)

The noun viciousness is a noun labelling a tendency of character rather than

• Viscous is pronounced with a 'hard -c-' - the sound of '-k-': 'VISK-es, IPA: /ˈvɪs kəs/. The abstract noun viscosity (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, 'vis-COSS-it-i', IPA: /vɪs ˈkɒs ɪt ɪ/) means 'the quality [or state]] of being viscous'. It basically means 'gluey' or 'sticky'. In Physics and similar sciences, viscosity is the quality in fluids of being 'thicker' or 'thinner', as honey is more viscous than water: it may be thought of as a kind of internal friction, or resistance to free-flowing movement. The related adjective viscid ('sticky', 'glutinous') is pronounced with a soft c: 'VISS-id', IPA: /ˈvɪs ɪd/.

'Viscous' is derived from the Latin viscus, 'mistletoe', a plant from which a sticky material (viscin) was obtained which was used, as birdlime, on twigs, to trap birds.

There is also a noun viscose, also with a 'hard -c-', which can be used adjectivally. It is a chemical derived from cellulose, with a sticky characteristic. It is used as the basis for various other substances. These include the synthetic fibre rayon, which was originally called 'artificial silk' (abbreviated in the 1920s to 'Artsilk': the term 'art silk' is sometimes used in sales talk), and for the transparent film cellophane (a trademark name in the UK and other countries). The word viscose is increasingly being used to mean material made of rayon.

You may also like to see AWE's article on viscera.