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

Derived Forms

• ˈvillainess, noun:feminine

Other Words From

• sub·villain noun
• under·villain 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

But it was missing something — a clear, motivated villain.

From Los Angeles Times

He is forced to pursue a mysterious villain after being blackmailed into allowing a potentially dangerous package on board a Christmas Eve flight.

From BBC

"Everyone is a villain. There are no heroes here," concludes Mr Akinosho.

From BBC

Professional boxing is where the concept of the great white hope — and the Black villain — gained traction.

From Salon

By normalizing Trump as a candidate, the media became the biggest villain in this entire era.

From Salon

Related Words

• antihero
• bad guy
• baddie
• baddy
• criminal
• devil
• scoundrel
• sinner