vixen

American  

[vik-suhn] / ˈvɪk sən /

noun

1. a female fox.

2. an ill-tempered or quarrelsome woman.

   Synonyms:

   termagant, harpy, virago, scold, shrew

3. a woman considered to be sexually attractive.

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vixen British  

/ ˈvɪksən /

noun

1. a female fox

2. a quarrelsome or spiteful woman

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Other Word Forms

• vixenish adjective
• vixenishly adverb
• vixenishness noun
• vixenly adjective

Etymology

Origin of vixen

First recorded in 1375–1425; southern late Middle English, replacing earlier northern Middle English fixen, from Old English fyxe, feminine of fox fox (compare fyxen “pertaining to a fox,” Old High German fuhsin “vixen”)

Explanation

A vixen is a female fox. Or it can be a woman with a temper. If you really want to insult a woman who is a little short on patience, call her a vixen. She won’t like it. Somewhere along the line the word vixen came to mean a hot-headed or ill-tempered person. Nowadays vixen is often used as a derisive term for an unpleasant or mean woman. Vixen also gets used frequently in descriptions of female film characters. In this way it doesn’t really mean that the character is bad tempered. As slang, to call someone a vixen means that she's sexy and flirtatious, a label she may or may not like.

Example Sentences

Or if Gein’s rumored girlfriend, Adeline Watkins, was the cruel, gore-obsessed vixen that Suzanna Son’s performance makes her out to be.

From Salon • Oct. 29, 2025

To prepare for her role as a calculating vixen in the miniseries “Fresno,” a satire of television’s popular evening soaps, Teri Garr had to force herself to do something she had never done before.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2024

Kim Kardashian is a reality star, a tabloid sensation, a prison-reform advocate, a beauty and shapewear mogul and a former video vixen.

From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2023

The vixen was found by workers in Bordesley Green, Birmingham, at about 07:00 BST, West Midlands Fire Service said.

From BBC • Aug. 11, 2023

The vixen poked her pointed snout in to sniff him more closely and bristled again.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker