Revised as of
8 Jan 2023
Viscose may not be confused very often with vicious or viscous, yet it still has that potential in this Word Confusion.
One way to differentiate between the words is in how they sound. Vicious almost requires a snarl to say while viscous has a thick feel to it. It’s more difficult to come up with a sound for viscose. There’s a choppy sound to that -cose, which could reflect an ax chopping down a tree, which is after all, rayon’s origin.
| Consider the following: | ||
|---|---|---|
| With a viscose chirp-hiss, Sosch finally . . .
Hmm, Sosch burned the rayon and that’s why it made that noise? |
With a vicious chirp-hiss, Sosch finally . . .
Ooh, sounds like this Sosch is really angry |
With a viscous chirp-hiss, Sosch finally . . .
This Sosch sounds like he’s getting ready to let loose with a really sloppy and thick spit-ball. |
| The viscose dogs attacked.
Stuffed animals! Must be a pillow fight. |
The vicious dogs attacked.
Eeek, I wanna climb a tree or get inside a locked room to get away from these angry, biting dogs. |
The viscous dogs attacked.
Eeew, sounds like they were slobbering . . . |
| The viscose lava flowed downhill.
Nah, viscose is made from wood. I should think it would burn right up. |
The vicious lava flowed downhill.
Well, okay, hot lava that can melt anything isn’t exactly friendly, but I don’t think I can call it vicious. |
The viscous lava flowed downhill.
Thank god it’s moving slowly. We have more time to get away. |
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Viscose | Vicious | Viscous |
|---|---|---|
Bra Shirt, and Same with Viscose Wrap Dress is Tobias “ToMar” Maier’s own work under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Two Wolves Snarling at Each Other Over a Bone is courtesy of Fæ under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Two vicious wolves snarling at each other. |
A Viscous Chocolate Malt Milkshake by Charles Willgren from Fort Collins, Colorado, United States, under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — It may not be lava, but “a chocolate malt at the restaurant at Fishing Bridge” also has a higher viscosity than water. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Noun
Plural: viscose |
Adjective | Adjective |
A thick orange-brown solution obtained by treating cellulose with sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide, used as the basis of manufacturing rayon fiber and transparent cellulose film
|
Deliberately cruel or violent
[Literary] Immoral [Archaic; of language or a line of reasoning] Imperfect
|
Having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid
Having a high viscosity |
| Examples: | ||
| Rayon has been used as a silk substitute.
Stockings made from rayon were a poor substitute for silk and one of the reasons Du Pont invented nylon stockings. Always wash rayon before sewing it, as it shrinks quite a bit. Rayon wrinkles very easily. |
It was a vicious deliberate assault.
There’s a vicious flu bug going around. Every soul on earth, virtuous or vicious, shall perish. |
A more viscous lava flows more slowly.
Heated maple syrup has a lower viscosity than cold syrup. The thicker the liquid, the more viscous it is. |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: viscid Adverb: viscidly Noun: viscidness, viscidity, viscosity |
||
| History of the Word: | ||
| The first known use was in 1896.
Late 19th century from the late Latin viscosus, from the Latin viscus meaning birdlime. |
Middle English, in the sense characterized by immorality. It’s from the Old French vicious or the Latin vitiosus from vitium meaning vice. | Late 19th century from the late Latin viscosus, from the Latin viscus meaning birdlime. Yeah, who knew viscose and vicious could have the same word origin? |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Viscose vs Vicious vs Viscous
Apple Dictionary.com
Pinterest Photo Credits
Grraauurrr… I Want That Can!!, <https://visualhunt.com/f2/photo/2739761774/ca6cb3c966/>, by ♡Blackangelツ, <https://visualhunt.com/author/4c3e0a>, is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via VisualHunt.
