vixen

English

Etymology

From Old English fixen (“of a fox”), fyxen. Voiced v- is from Southern dialect. Compare German Füchsin. See also fox.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɪksən

Noun

vixen (plural vixens)

1. A female fox.
2. A malicious, quarrelsome or temperamental woman.
   • 1859:, George Eliot. Adam Bede: page 54. Köln: Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 1999:

     . . . and if Solomon was as wise as he is reputed to be, I feel sure that when he compared a contentious woman to a contiunal dropping on a very rainy day, he had not a vixen in his eye–a fury with long nails, acrid and selfish.

3. (colloquial) A racy or salacious woman.

Synonyms

• (female fox): female fox
• (malicious, quarrelsome or temperamental woman): bitch, virago, she-devil, hellcat
• (racy or salacious woman): fox, sex kitten, nymphomaniac, vamp

Hypernyms

• (female fox): fox

Translations

female fox

• Arabic: ثعلبة (ar) (ṯaʿlaba)
• Catalan: guineu femella (ca) f, guilla (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 母狐狸 (cmn) (mǔhúli)

• Czech: liška (cs) f
• Dutch: wijfjesvos (nl) f
• Esperanto: vulpino (eo)
• Finnish: naaraskettu (fi)
• French: renarde (fr) f
• German: Füchsin (de) f, Fähe (de) f
• Hebrew: שועלה (he) (šualá)
• Hungarian: szuka (hu)
• Irish: sionnach baineann (ga) m
• Italian: volpina (it) f

• Japanese: 雌の狐 (ja) (mesu-no-kitsune)
• Malay: rubah betina (ms), musang betina (ms), rubah (ms), musang (ms)
• Norn: fúa f
• Old Norse: fúa f, fóa f
• Polish: lisica (pl) f
• Romanian: vulpiță (ro) f, vulpoaică (ro) f
• Russian: лисица (ru) (lisítsa) f, лиса (ru) (lisá) f
• Sanskrit: लोमज़िक (sa) (lomazika)
• Scottish Gaelic: sionnach-boireann (gd) m
• Slovak: líška (sk) f
• Spanish: zorra (es) f
• Volapük: jirenar (vo)
• Welsh: llwynoges (cy)

temperamental woman

• Breton: louskenn f, liboudenn f
• Chinese: 賤人, 贱人 (jiàn rén); 婊子 (biǎozi); 娼婦, 娼妇 (chāngfù)
• French: chipie (fr) f, garce (fr) f, salope (fr) f, rosse (fr) f
• German: Schlampe (de) f, Drachen (de) m, Zicke (de) f
• Italian: stronza (it) f, troia (it) f

• Japanese: すべた (subeta)
• Polish: kurwa (pl) f, suka (pl) f
• Russian: сука (ru) (súka) f, стерва (ru) (stérva) f
• Scottish Gaelic: galla f
• Spanish: puta (es) f, perra (es) f, zorra (es) f

sexy woman — see fox