as in villains
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
the actor has never been cast as a hero, but he's played every kind of baddie imaginable
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Recent Examples of baddies
While Bond is able to subdue the baddies, the briefcase containing the money is lost and Vesper is trapped in an elevator cage.
—
Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Jan. 2026
Chris Pratt is known for having action-forward roles in movies – wrestling supervillains, fighting video-game baddies, befriending dinosaurs, occasionally playing baseball, that sort of thing.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
Teaming up with fellow Traitor Rob to speak in code and murder in plain sight was absolutely masterful, and helping keep the group of baddies together has been her strength.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
My fellow baddies who brunch will love the effervescent Bellini Spritz, made with all-natural peach, guava, passion fruit and strawberry, or the Tropical Mai Tai, made with fresh pineapple, Key lime, and amaretto.
—Chala June, Bon Appetit Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
So many songs for Black Star were born in the strip club or in the midst of baddies.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
The second film, in theaters now via Lionsgate, finds the actor much more in control after being terrorized by the mysterious title baddies in the first film, a reimagining of the 2008 hit.
—William Earl, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
For my corporate baddies who have thought about dabbling into entrepreneurship Nicaila Matthews Okome has created the blueprint.
—Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 23 Sep. 2025
The idea is to navigate tight and claustrophobic paths in between enemy projectiles by nimbly flying around and blasting the baddies with your craft’s weapons.
—Joshua Lamb, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Jan. 2026
Chris Pratt is known for having action-forward roles in movies – wrestling supervillains, fighting video-game baddies, befriending dinosaurs, occasionally playing baseball, that sort of thing.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
Teaming up with fellow Traitor Rob to speak in code and murder in plain sight was absolutely masterful, and helping keep the group of baddies together has been her strength.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2026
My fellow baddies who brunch will love the effervescent Bellini Spritz, made with all-natural peach, guava, passion fruit and strawberry, or the Tropical Mai Tai, made with fresh pineapple, Key lime, and amaretto.
—Chala June, Bon Appetit Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
So many songs for Black Star were born in the strip club or in the midst of baddies.
—Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2025
The second film, in theaters now via Lionsgate, finds the actor much more in control after being terrorized by the mysterious title baddies in the first film, a reimagining of the 2008 hit.
—William Earl, Variety, 26 Sep. 2025
For my corporate baddies who have thought about dabbling into entrepreneurship Nicaila Matthews Okome has created the blueprint.
—Kimberly Wilson, Essence, 23 Sep. 2025
The idea is to navigate tight and claustrophobic paths in between enemy projectiles by nimbly flying around and blasting the baddies with your craft’s weapons.
—Joshua Lamb, Forbes.com, 1 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for baddies
Noun
-
Picking winners and losers, heroes and villains, pathways to success and failure, generates excitement for an event and manufactures a sense of urgency for maximal viewing pleasure.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
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As the country moves toward the 2026 midterms, the temptation will be to treat our current racial, political, and economic crisis as a sharp break from the past; to search for singular villains; and to imagine that a return to normalcy is just one election away.—
Heather Ann Thompson,
The Atlantic,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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For much of his career, Skarsgård has gravitated toward characters who weaponize physical presence — Vikings, tech titans and mythic brutes whose power is immediately legible.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
9 Jan. 2026
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Credit to producers Tim Zinnemann and George Linder for selecting a veritable array of brutes to wage battle with Arnold.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Nov. 2025
Noun
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But beneath his plush exterior and upbeat messaging, Buddy is an insatiably needy, controlling narcissist requiring constant affirmations of the children’s love and filling their heads with terror of the monsters lurking in the outside world beyond the park in which the show takes place.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Jan. 2026
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And the monsters are truly terrifying.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Immigration and Integration Minister Rasmus Stoklund said 315 foreign criminals from countries outside the European Union had received sentences of more than a year over the last five years but were not expelled.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
31 Jan. 2026
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Top police brass nationwide rarely criticize their federal partners, relying on collaboration to investigate gangs, extremist groups and other major criminals — while also counting on millions in funding from Washington each year.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
31 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Baddies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/baddies. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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