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.
"Or it at least doesn't make you seem as much the bad guy who just wants to cut people for cost-effectiveness."
From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026
They said he gave less direct feedback than Lasseter and seemed to never want to be the bad guy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026
“There is a good guy and a bad guy that’s very clear and very binary,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2025
Asked for his reaction to Bolton's indictment, Trump told reporters his former aide is a "bad guy" and "that's the way it goes."
From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025
“It has always killed me how fast the criminal goes from being a bad guy at his trial to some kind of victim once he’s in prison, according to public perception,” he added.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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.
