as in evil
that which is morally unacceptable
psychologists and sociologists have tried to discover the roots of such unspeakable villainy
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of villainy
For years, Ye had been obsessed with notions of Jewish villainy, while also identifying himself with Adolf Hitler and Nazis.
—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Fennell's Heathcliff, on the other hand, is stripped of the majority of his villainy.
—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
13 Feb. 2026
This rhetoric is employed to justify the state taking life, by associating the dead with national villainy.
—
Ta-Nehisi Coates,
Vanity Fair,
26 Jan. 2026
Cosby’s good guys do things that outpace the rankest villainy in the work of other crime writers.
—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for villainy
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Fennell's Heathcliff, on the other hand, is stripped of the majority of his villainy.
—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
13 Feb. 2026
This rhetoric is employed to justify the state taking life, by associating the dead with national villainy.
—
Ta-Nehisi Coates,
Vanity Fair,
26 Jan. 2026
Cosby’s good guys do things that outpace the rankest villainy in the work of other crime writers.
—
Emma Alpern,
Vulture,
2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for villainy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villainy
Noun
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Peter Gosselin Washington Moyn’s article and the accompanying cover photograph—showing old people as malevolent and evil—were not up to the usual standards of Harper’s Magazine.
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Using everything she’s learned from Jack Reacher and her time as a member of the 110 Special Investigators, Neagley puts herself on a dangerous path to uncover a menacing evil.
Noun
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In addition to public goods, AI will also create public bads.
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Naturally, the meeting is a flop because no one was prepared, and their spontaneous ideas are frankly fireable-offense bad (a baguette bag shaped like a baguette for Paris?
Noun
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On one side, a satanic figure named Randall Flagg who gathers his forces of badness to Las Vegas; on the other, the good guys, led by 108-year-old Mother Abigail in, of all places, Boulder.
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The show premiered over Thanksgiving weekend, when people were tired and full and bored (and probably also horny), and countered our world’s unceasing badness with its world’s buoyant sweetness.
Cite this Entry
“Villainy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villainy. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
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