bad guy

[bad gahy]

noun

Informal.

1. 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.

2. 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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bad guy¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

The script never varies: He vows to snare the bad guys.

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“Snakes aren’t the bad guys,” he protests—this isn’t a spoiler, as it appears in the trailer.

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“Fine, take the criminals, take the bad guys,” he continued.

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She kills a passel of bad guys and then finds out she’s pregnant.

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Think of it as the 1960s equivalent of what Edward Snowden was doing, except legal and aimed at the bad guys.

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Related Words

• antagonist 
• antihero 
• bad person www.thesaurus.com
• baddie 
• baddy www.thesaurus.com
• cad 
• knave 
• miscreant 
• scoundrel 
• villain