bad guy

noun

1

informal : the villain in a story : baddie

played the bad guy in the movie

2

informal : someone who is likened to the villain in a story: such as

a

: a criminal

Designed to keep guns out of the hands of bad guys and children …

—Popular Science

b

: a military enemy

… a decision that owes more to parochial conflicts within the Armed Forces than to doing the best job of surveilling bad guys.

—Stuart F. Brown

c

: someone who deserves to be blamed or criticized for causing a bad situation

Meanwhile, it's the environmentalists who are now portrayed as the bad guys, hiring lots of lawyers, consorting with congressmen …

—Eric Alterman

d

: a person who treats other people harshly or strictly : a person who says or does unpopular things

As a coach sometimes you have to be the bad guy.

—Ed Jovanovski, quoted in Sports Illustrated

Parenting isn't just about having beautiful kids and being busy. It's about dealing with problems, and your success as a parent depends on your willingness to be the bad guy. If you aren't willing to be the bad guy, you shouldn't be a parent.

—Roy Bragg

Examples of bad guy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Superpowered Marshal BraveStarr protects the planet of New Texas from various frontier bad guys, assisted by the eyes of the hawk, the ears of the wolf, the speed of the puma, and the strength of the bear. — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 5 July 2026

After working for other bad guys over the years, the Minions (all voiced by Coffin) accidentally end up in Hollywood in the 1920s as Tinseltown is in its silent movie heyday. — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

Advertisement More interesting are the attempts to challenge Superman without weakening him or introducing a comparably strong bad guy. — James Grebey, Time, 26 June 2026

Interspersed with the adventure – and quite a few brawls with bad guys – are flashbacks to Kara’s time on Krypton and adopting Krypto. — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 25 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bad guy

• apply
• awry
• belie
• bely
• bigeye
• bonsai
• buckeye
• comply
• coxae
• decry
• defy
• deny