bad guy
Americannoun
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an evil or malicious person; a villain or someone perceived as one.
The actor now makes his living guest starring as the bad guy on many different TV shows.
Business consulting can turn you into the bad guy for people who don't want to know their idea could fail.
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any person who does bad or harmful things, especially habitually.
In tech security, you just have to live with the fact that the bad guys are already ahead of you.
Etymology
Origin of bad guy
An Americanism first recorded in 1920–25
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Bad guy, good guy; bad opponent, good opponent; win, not win. I don't know. Crazy man. Change opinion every time," Usyk said.
From BBC • Dec. 20, 2024
"Little Brian, little Brian Kemp. Bad guy," he taunted.
From Salon • Aug. 15, 2024
“I don’t even know what he was thinking. He’s just a complete brick head. He’s got nothing up there. Bad guy, bad player, but what a joke he is.”
From Seattle Times • Nov. 30, 2021
Bad guy: Why aren’t more people talking about the fact that Kevin Durant’s decision to move to the Warriors totally ruined the experience of watching the NBA?
From Slate • Jun. 8, 2018
Bad guy has a bad artifact and is doing bad things.
From Forbes • Mar. 25, 2014
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
