# What does the word "vixen" mean, in your opinion, when applied to a woman?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 20, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072 "2012-08-20T17:27:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/1 "2012-08-20T17:27:01Z")
A vixen is a female fox, but the word has also historically been used, generally by men, to describe certain women. It seems to have fallen out of use, but i also think that most people would still be familiar with the term.
So, without looking at any dictionaries or other reference works: If a woman was described to you as a vixen, what characteristics would you attribute to her? What sort of woman would come to mind?
Once you’ve sorted out your own understanding of the term, have a look at the relevant section from the Oxford English Dictionary: **vixen, n.** 2.a. An ill-tempered quarrelsome woman; a shrew, a termagant.Do your definition and the OED’s definition agree?
I ask because the word came up at dinner last night, and both my wife and i found that our own understanding of the word’s meaning was actually quite different from the dictionary definition, and yet we both still believe that our own definition is the one more commonly used. I’ll explain further after getting some responses.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/2 "2012-08-20T17:29:59Z")
Hawt. Maybe a little flirty. All I can bring to mind right now is Jessica Rabbit.
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### Author:  [@emeraldia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emeraldia)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/3 "2012-08-20T17:33:19Z")
What tdn said. That’s very interesting. Obviously it’s so routinely misused that it’s taken on a whole new meaning to people.
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/4 "2012-08-20T17:50:21Z")
I think of vixen as meaning a headstrong woman in touch with her animal/sexual side. Angelina Jolie strikes me as a vixen.
And yes, the definition seems to have evolved…
At least we’re not focused on the 80’s all-girl hair metal band 😉
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### Author:  [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/5 "2012-08-20T17:56:47Z")
Jessica Rabbit is a perfect example. A vixen is sexy and kinda _bad_.
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### Author:  [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/6 "2012-08-20T17:59:38Z")
For some reason that I can’t reference, I think of an attractive woman who actively uses her physical attractiveness to influence weak minded men.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/7 "2012-08-20T17:59:58Z")
> [@mhendo](#):
>
> **What does the word “vixen” mean, in your opinion, when applied to a woman?**
A woman who is sexy and flirtatious or outright sexually aggressive.
> [@emeraldia](#):
>
> What tdn said. That’s very interesting. Obviously it’s so routinely misused that it’s taken on a whole new meaning to people.
I think that a lot of it is the common use of the word “foxy” to describe a sexy woman. A vixen is a female fox after all. So it’s kind of natural to interpret calling a woman a “vixen” to be another way of calling her a foxy lady.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/8 "2012-08-20T18:04:55Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#):
>
> Jessica Rabbit is a perfect example. A vixen is sexy and kinda _bad_.
But that’s just the way she’s drawn.
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### Author:  [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/9 "2012-08-20T18:09:43Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> A vixen is a female fox after all.
I did not know that before this thread. But I usually think redhead.
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### Author:  [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/10 "2012-08-20T18:11:30Z")
I picture a woman who’s sexy and sly.
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### Author:  [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/11 "2012-08-20T19:01:10Z")
Calculatedly sexy, very smart and shrewd, and a little dangerous.
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### Author:  [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/12 "2012-08-20T19:07:04Z")
Temperamental and sexy.
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### Author:  [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/13 "2012-08-20T19:33:07Z")
> [@mhendo](#):
>
> …have a look at the relevant section from the Oxford English Dictionary: **vixen, n.** 2.a. An ill-tempered quarrelsome woman; a shrew, a termagant.
Is that the ONLY definition in the OED? And from what year? (The online version being from like 1912 or something, right?)
FWIW, the online [Merriam-Webster dictionary entry](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vixen) gives what everybody here (including myself) would have thought to be the non-literal meaning as Definition #3.
Also I’ve read or heard the word “vixen” used in the “Jessica Rabbit” sense since at least the 1980s, and NEVER in the sense given here in Oxford English Dictionary, so I’m surprised these dictionaries are so far behind the change in meaning.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/14 "2012-08-20T19:44:15Z")
> [@robardin](#):
>
> Is that the ONLY definition in the OED? And from what year? (The online version being from like 1912 or something, right?)… .
My recent edition also gives #1 “a female fox” So maybe they did not mean the animal? 🙂
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### Author:  [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/15 "2012-08-20T19:48:38Z")
Sexy sly, cunning but not really evil.
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### Author:  [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/16 "2012-08-20T19:51:38Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#):
>
> Jessica Rabbit is a perfect example. A vixen is sexy and kinda _bad_.
She’s not bad, she’s just drawn that way. 😃 IMO, vixen=sexually aggressive woman on the prowl.
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/17 "2012-08-20T19:54:54Z")
> [@robardin](#):
>
> Is that the ONLY definition in the OED? And from what year? (The online version being from like 1912 or something, right?)
The version of the OED i used is the current, complete online version available only through subscription. I have access through my university.
It has three definitions; two as a noun, one as an adjective. Here’s how the entry looks:
> [@](#):
>
> **vixen, n. and adj.**
>
> 1. The female of the fox; a she-fox.
>
> 2.
>
> a. An ill-tempered quarrelsome woman; a shrew, a termagant.
>
> b. In the phrase to play the vixen . Obs.
>
> c. Applied to a child or a man. Obs. rare.
> 3. attrib., passing into adj.
>
> a. Appositive with fox, = sense 1.
>
> b. Appositive, of persons, = vixenish adj. 1.
>
> c. Of looks, actions, etc., = vixenish adj. 2.
And the definition of “vixenish” given by the OED is “Resembling a vixen in disposition; cross, ill-tempered, snappish.” The most recent quotation given as an example of instance #2 is from 1879; it seems to me that they might need to update this entry.
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### Author:  [@Diamonds02](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamonds02)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/18 "2012-08-20T20:02:53Z")
Rihanna 🙂
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### Author:  [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/19 "2012-08-20T20:19:02Z")
My personal definition agrees with the OED, except that there should also be an element of sexiness. Probably the Russ Meyer influence.
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### Author:  [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-word-vixen-mean-in-your-opinion-when-applied-to-a-woman/632072/20 "2012-08-20T20:25:56Z")
…and preferably wearing a skin-tight leather catsuit.
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