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 Green has written all three of Kenneth Branagh’s recent Hercule Poirot movies, and gets Branagh to play the season’s big bad, a despicable, indomitable arms dealer named Fowler. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 9 Nov. 2023 Season 4 saw Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) successfully opening the gates between the Upside Down and Hawkins, spelling doom for the small town, and Max (Sadie Sink) falling into a coma after narrowly avoiding the grips of the big bad. Jessica Wang, EW.com, 16 Oct. 2023 There, the villains (and their captive, Sabine) were greeted by the Great Mothers, who assured them the big bad character the entire series has been leading up to would be arriving shortly, and sure enough, a massive Star Destroyer soon came into view. Dalton Ross, EW.com, 20 Sep. 2023 Every generation deserves their own high school outcast who takes down the big bad bully, and mine was Cady Heron, as played by Lindsay Lohan. Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 12 Jan. 2024 This is another origin story of a villain, given the same treatment that Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, and many, many other recognizable big bads of past pop-culture touchstones. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 16 Nov. 2023 Ice Cube drops the mic in a dominating — and very fun-sounding — turn as the big bad, Superfly. Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times, 15 Nov. 2023 Kang is set to be the next big bad MCU villain for the Avengers, though Majors’s long-term participation has been uncertain amid his pending domestic violence trial. Herb Scribner, Washington Post, 5 Oct. 2023 Bryce is the real big bad, but Long is woefully underutilized. Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'big bad.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

2001, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of big bad was in 2001

Dictionary Entries Near big bad

Cite this Entry

“Big bad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big%20bad. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!