villainy

noun vil·lainy \ ˈvi-lə-nē \

|Updated on: 28 Jul 2018

Examples: villainy in a Sentence

Definition of villainy

plural villainies

1 : villainous conduct; also : a villainous act

2 : the quality or state of being villainous : depravity

See villainy defined for English-language learners

See villainy defined for kids

Examples of villainy in a Sentence

a story of villainy and betrayal
the gruesome villainies of war

Recent Examples of villainy from the Web

WorryFree reads as cartoonish, but the heart of its villainy—anti-unionism in favor of efficiency, selling regardless of the client’s morality, innovating without weighing the costs—is strikingly recognizable.

— joseph bien-kahn, WIRED, "Radical As Ever, Boots Riley Takes On the Tech Boom," 4 July 2018
Garden-variety villainy is afoot in the absence of a majestic villain like Darth Vader.

— joe morgenstern, WSJ, "‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Review: The Force Is Half-Awake," 22 May 2018
Joining the cast is a gruff Laurence Fishburne as an old partner of Hank’s and Walton Goggins as a small-time criminal, but this isn’t really a film where villainy is a focus.

— david sims, The Atlantic, "Ant-Man and the Wasp," 5 July 2018
And that’s even reflected in how the show reveals his villainy — not through the eyes of Syd, but through the eyes of David, who experiences it as a twist.

— todd vanderwerff, Vox, "How Legion’s season 2 finale exposed the emptiness at the show’s core," 17 June 2018
But everyone loves an underdog, even if said underdog is from a country that seemingly is trying to replicate its cartoonish Cold War villainy.

— matt bonesteel, chicagotribune.com, "The U.S. is missing, so here's one reason to watch every World Cup team," 14 June 2018
In the Hulu drama’s first season, Commander Waterford’s wife, played with exceptional nuance by Yvonne Strahovski, displayed glimmers of humanity—but none that overshadowed her overt villainy.

— laura bradley, HWD, "Has Serena Joy Become The Handmaid’s Tale’s Most Poignant Character?," 13 June 2018
Reddit is growing at Facebook's expense, yet its scum-and-villainy problem continues to resurface even after repeated purges.

— eric limer, Popular Mechanics, "When Is Instagram Going to Blow It?," 6 June 2018
When that truth became clear, the modern power of book-burning was reinforced — as was the idea that to be the one burning the books was a sure sign of villainy.

— lily rothman, Time, "The Real History Behind Book Burning and Fahrenheit 451," 18 May 2018

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