viper

From Middle French vipere, from Old French vipre, from Latin vīpera, contracted from vīvipara f (“viviparous”, adj.), from vivus (“alive”, adj.) +‎ parere (“to bear”, verb). Doublet of weever and wyvern.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪpɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪpə(ɹ)

viper (plural vipers)

1. A venomous snake in the family Viperidae.

   Synonym: adder

2. (informal) Any venomous snake.
3. (figurative) A dangerous, treacherous, or malignant person.
   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 62:

     And aggravate my folly who committed / To ſuch a viper his moſt ſacred truſt / Of ſecreſie, my ſafety, and my life.

   • 1879, Francis Beaumont, The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher: The Text Formed from a New Collation of the Early Editions, Volume 1, D. Appleton, page 350:

     Consider, for the love of Heaven, to what you run madly: will you take this viper into your bed?

   • 1990 December 16, Gianni Comes, “Not Just Homophobia”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 22, page 4:

     Then there's the heterosexual, open-mined ^[sic] entourage who loves us dearly and are our best friends. They laugh at our humor and understand our sorrow. For they are rare and unique in prison. But the vipers always ruin things. They refer to our straight friends as "Closet-Cases," "Undercovers," and "Flip-Floppers."

4. (slang) A person who smokes marijuana.
   • a. 1936, Stuff Smith (lyrics and music), “If You're a Viper”:

     Dreamed about a reefer five feet long / Mighty Mezz, but not too strong / You'll be high but not for long / If you're a viper

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:viper.

• “viper n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present