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View synonyms for villain

villain

[vil-uhn]

noun

  1. a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.

  2. a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot.

  3. a person or thing considered to be the cause of something bad.

    Fear is the villain that can sabotage our goals.

  4. villein.



villain

/ ˈvɪlən /

noun

  1. a wicked or malevolent person

  2. (in a novel, play, film, etc) the main evil character and antagonist to the hero

  3. humorous,  a mischievous person; rogue

  4. slang:police,  a criminal

  5. history a variant spelling of villein

  6. obsolete,  an uncouth person; boor

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Word Forms

  • villainess noun
  • subvillain noun
  • undervillain noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of villain1

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English vilein, vilain “churlish rustic, serf,” from Middle French, from Vulgar Latin and Medieval Latin villānus “a farm servant, farmhand”; villa, -an
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Word History and Origins

Origin of villain1

C14: from Old French vilein serf, from Late Latin vīllānus worker on a country estate, from Latin: villa
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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.

Can Rachel McAdams sue the attorney general for this half-baked theft of her iconic movie villain?

Read more on Salon

The scene further cements Julian as the successor to his grandfather’s legacy and leaves the possibility open for his return as a villain in a future “Tron” installment.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Batman’s classic villains are also transformed into characters that exist organically within the Aztec context.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

One of the book’s villains is, in Evelyn’s view, “not man enough to be hated.”

But it is Ms. Hawkins, fully committed to a character who should be committed, who shines, making Laura a singular personage—a monster, but not necessarily a villain.

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