bad guy

noun

Updated on: 10 Apr 2018

Definition of bad guy

informal

1 : the villain in a story : baddie

played the bad guy in the movie

2 : 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

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

Recent Examples of bad guy from the Web

The good guys were always good, the bad guys wound up in prison and both good and bad characters seemed totally divorced from the turmoil over law and order and race that played out in real life from the '60s onward.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Steven Bochco, who forever changed TV, dies at 74," 2 Apr. 2018
The theory that the only thing stopping a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun is not exactly two plus two.

— mac engel, star-telegram, "Four years later, arming teachers/coaches back on the table | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 22 Feb. 2018
For all the internet memes comparing Trump officials to Bond bad guys, the bumbling villains of Austin Powers are the better reference.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Trump has been playing right into China’s hands," 9 Mar. 2018
America has always had a soft spot for bad guys, and 50 Cent used that knowledge to create one of the biggest moments in rap history.

— william e. ketchum iii, Billboard, "The Villain Everyone Loved: How 50 Cent's 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' Made Him a Rap God 15 Years Ago," 6 Feb. 2018
In police dramas on television and in the movies, there is often a wall, covered in pictures, a collage of the bad guys being hunted.

— george dohrmann, SI.com, "Inside the Viking World Order, the Exclusive Club of Minnesota Vikings Superfans," 17 Jan. 2018
Some of these guys were just lightweight followers and would only attack in groups, but a lot of them were genuine bad guys who were into Clockwork Orange–scale violence.

— steve knopper, GQ, "Nazi Punks F**k Off: How Black Flag, Bad Brains, and More Took Back Their Scene from White Supremacists," 16 Jan. 2018
The story, which revolves around the antics of the Delta and Gamma fraternities, was all bad guys.

— pam grady, San Francisco Chronicle, "Break out the togas — ‘Animal House’ turns 40," 11 Jan. 2018
On Wednesday evening, The Washington Post reported that special counsel Robert Mueller is zeroing in on Blackwater founder and all-around bad guy Erik Prince.

— alex shephard, The New Republic, "If there was “no collusion” why did the Trump transition team work so hard to set up a back channel with Russia?," 8 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bad guy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.