villainy

noun

vil·​lainy ˈvi-lə-nē 

plural villainies

1

: villainous conduct

also : a villainous act

2

: the quality or state of being villainous : depravity

Synonyms of villainy

• evil
• bad
• badness

Examples of villainy in a Sentence

a story of villainy and betrayal

the gruesome villainies of war

Recent Examples on the Web

But the better Hamnet looks as an Oscars prospect, the more likely its chances are to play spoiler to heroes One Battle or Sinners and flirt with villainy as a result. —Joe Reid, Vulture, 7 Nov. 2025

Fanning also plays a second synth, named Tessa, with a personality so different from Thia’s, the star has the chance to test her limits in either direction: wry comedy and chilling villainy. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 4 Nov. 2025

For Game 3, Springer was joined in villainy by Toronto’s starting pitcher. —Andy McCullough, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025

The meanie store manager (played, with cartoony hard-ass villainy, by Peter Dinklage) refuses to make a donation, so Manchester gathers a bagful of (stolen) toys and brings them over to the church himself. —Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 10 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

villainy

noun

vil·​lainy ˈvil-ə-nē 

plural villainies

: conduct or actions of or typical of a villain