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

In Marvel Oreo canon, three packs of the legend cookies made it to stores but Marvel villains were blocking the fourth pack's way. —Greta Cross, USA Today, 19 Feb. 2026

Peaky Blinders the show had a penchant for stunt-casting its villains — Paddy Considine, Sam Neill, Adrien Brody, Anya Taylor-Joy — and this time, Tommy is going up against his son, played by Barry Keoghan. —Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 19 Feb. 2026

Even the Dodgers, the cartoon villains of spending, kind of sort of have a limit. —Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026

And Salieri seems more of hybrid creature, as though a villain out of Christopher Marlowe had suddenly been endowed with Shakespearean self-awareness. —Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 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
• haematoxylin
• 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