villain

noun

vil·​lain ˈvi-lən 

1

: a character in a story or play who opposes the hero

2

: a deliberate scoundrel or criminal

3

: one blamed for a particular evil or difficulty

… witness the wolf, at once ecological hero and agricultural villain.

—Ben Goldfarb

4

: villein

5

: an uncouth person : boor

Synonyms of villain

• brute
• monster
• criminal
• devil
• savage
• offender
• scoundrel
• beast
• bandit
• assassin

Examples of villain in a Sentence

He plays the villain in most of his movies.

She describes her first husband as a villain who treated her terribly.

Don't try to make me the villain. It's your own fault that you're having these problems.

Recent Examples on the Web

Perhaps, given a full 12 (or 20) episode season, these similarities would have been less obvious, or we’d have been given time to let the characters, both hero and villain, grow in new ways. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026

As if the past 15 years of analyzing every movie twist and identifying the villain in plain sight wasn’t a waste after all. — Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 23 July 2026

Directed by James Watkins and written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, the film places one of the most gruesome villains from the DC universe front and center. — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 22 July 2026

Frances Neagley is a woman on a mission and there’s no villain big or bad enough to stop her. — Mekishana Pierre, Entertainment Weekly, 22 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English vilain, vilein, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin villanus, from Latin villa

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Rhymes for villain

• millon
• amoxicillin
• carbenicillin
• ampicillin
• methicillin
• penicillin
• pyroxylin
• vanillin

Kids Definition

villain

noun

vil·​lain ˈvil-ən 

1

: villein

2

: an evil person : scoundrel

3

: a character in a story or play who opposes the hero