What does "vixen" mean?
A female fox.
Vixen
/ˈvɪk.sən/ name, noun, slang
name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A female fox.
- Grammar: vixen is listed as name, noun, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: amazon, battle-ax, beast, beldam.
- Useful contrasts: male fox, modest woman, prude.
- Usage evidence: The abbot gave rice to the vixen.
How to use "vixen"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "vixen" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "vixen" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "vixen" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "vixen" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "vixen" is acting as name, noun, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "amazon" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "vixen", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A female fox.
- 2 a female fox wordnet
- 3 A malicious, quarrelsome or temperamental woman.
"He was prudent and industrious, and so good a husbandman, that he might have led a very easy and comfortable life, had not an arrant vixen of a wife soured his domestic quiet."
- 4 a malicious woman with a fierce temper wordnet
- 5 A racy or salacious woman who is sexually attractive; any attractive woman. colloquial
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A wife who has sex with other men with her husband's consent. colloquial
"2018, ‘Stag’ men love watching other guys have sex with their wives… but it’s not cuckolding The stag gets a thrill from watching his vixen have sex with another man."
Proper Noun
- 1 The fourth reindeer of Santa Claus.
Example
"The abbot gave rice to the vixen."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "vixen"?
Common synonyms include: amazon, battle-ax, beast, beldam, berserk, berserker.
How do you use "vixen" in a sentence?
The abbot gave rice to the vixen.
How do you pronounce "vixen"?
Pronounced /ˈvɪk.sən/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Alteration of earlier fixen, from Middle English fixen, from Old English *fyxen (compare also Old English fyxe (“female fox”)), from Proto-West Germanic *fuhsini, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsinī; the voiced v- comes from the Southern dialectal forms of Middle English. Alternatively, from the Old English adjective fyxen (“of the fox”), as in the phrase fixen hȳd (“fox skin”; compare Middle English foxen fox).
Etymology 2
First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. From vixen.