villain

[vil-uhn]

noun

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

   Synonyms: scamp, rogue, rapscallion, rascal, knave

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

Other Word Forms

• villainess noun
• subvillain noun
• undervillain noun

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

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

Example Sentences

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

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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.

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

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

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.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• antihero 
• bad guy 
• baddie 
• baddy www.thesaurus.com
• criminal 
• devil 
• scoundrel 
• sinner