big bad

noun

variants or Big Bad

plural big bads or Big Bads

: a major villain or antagonist (as in a movie, show, or game)

When Ursula, the story's big bad, took to the screen, I would run behind the entertainment center and cover my eyes, a fact my mom loves to remind me about whenever she gets the chance.

—KT Hawbaker

As the show [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] aged, the Big Bads became more dangerous and the lessons more adult, but Buffy never gave up …

—Kaitlin Thomas

The Big Bad this time around is the wind mage Vaati, who has captured Zelda, and it's your quest to defeat him and prevent the unholy union of princess and evil eyeball-blob-thing.

—Tony Ponce

Examples of big bad in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Before long, the big bad calls the duo and tells them to meet him at the compound of Aaron Graves (Sean Pertwee), who Martine killed in the previous episode. —Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Oct. 2025

But their Netflix series is an homage to '80s horror and adventure flicks, and Vecna and the Mind Flayer—the show’s ultimate big bads—need to kill people in order for the threat to feel real. —Eliana Dockterman, Time, 16 Oct. 2025

Ares, a sequel ten years in the making to 2010’s Tron: Legacy film, roared into theaters Oct. 10 with Jared Leto as the star AI program Ares, Greta Lee starring as ENCOM CEO Eve Kim, Evan Peters as Julian Dillinger, grandson of the original Tron film’s big bad, and more. —Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 10 Oct. 2025

Also, the big bad in the show isn’t quite as fully realized as audiences might expect. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 21 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2001, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for big bad

• comrade
• dryad
• dyad
• forbad
• grandad
• granddad
• keypad
• nomad
• notepad
• postgrad
• sinbad
• tetrad