villain
Americannoun
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a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel.
- Synonyms:
- scamp, rogue, rapscallion, rascal, knave
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a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot.
-
a person or thing considered to be the cause of something bad.
Fear is the villain that can sabotage our goals.
noun
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a wicked or malevolent person
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(in a novel, play, film, etc) the main evil character and antagonist to the hero
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humorous a mischievous person; rogue
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slang:police a criminal
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history a variant spelling of villein
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obsolete an uncouth person; boor
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of villain
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”; see origin at villa, -an
Explanation
A villain is a bad person — real or made up. In books, movies, current events, or history, the villain is the character who does mean, evil things on purpose. Today a villain is a wicked person, whether in fact or fiction. In the 1300s, villain described a low-born rustic. It came from the Medieval Latin word villanus, or farmhand. Just why a word would evolve from meaning farmer into evildoer is a little mysterious, although it probably has to do with farmers not being chivalrous, like the knights who were so admired in those days.
Vocabulary lists containing villain
"Black Panther" Lingo
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Superhero Lexicon
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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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.
See Examples For:
The couple's daughter, Athena, who appeared via video-link from the US, told the court her father was a "jealous, conniving, narcissistic villain".
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
"So he's gone against this supposed oath, and this is where he becomes the villain of the piece. This is a really important moment."
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
In a 2024 exposé on Bowlero’s rise, Amos Barshad introduced a now-familiar category of villain — the private-equity vulture — as more than the average mercenary buying up distressed properties and selling off their parts.
From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026
Elmosnino is an amusing villain, making his most self-serving machinations sound reasonable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
She would be a perfect villain in a Disney movie.
From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
But his soap opera-esque formula of hateable villains and underdog heroes inspires the kind of binge viewing and TikTok clipping now driving the entertainment business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
As one of the stars of MTV's hit show The Hills in the 2000s, Spencer Pratt quickly became one of reality television's favourite villains.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
The best horror villains are not only terrifying but complicated, their destructive persona hiding a far more vulnerable being underneath.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2026
"Wrestling is so theatrical, you've got your heroes and villains, its all about storytelling and everyone is playing a heightened version of themselves in the ring," she said.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
We’re going to be vanquishing villains left and right.
From "Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures" by Kate DiCamillo
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.
