as in brutes
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
only a heartless villain would kidnap a baby for ransom
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Recent Examples of villains
And, hey, the league is better when there are villains.
—
Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 5 June 2026
The festive, charming and energetic North American tour of the Broadway production is packed with as much nostalgia as new characters that are doppelgangers for the original series’ heroes and villains, and who often challenge our assumptions about their infamous families.
—John Wenzel, Denver Post, 4 June 2026
What villains, from Earth or elsewhere, are most known to threaten humanity?
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 4 June 2026
Whiplash Most of 'Masters of the Universe''s heroes and villains were one-offs, but some were extremely derivative of other franchises.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 4 June 2026
Fast forward two years, and they are now presented as villains in a way no other team has since the late 1990s Yankees teams.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 3 June 2026
Simon was more interested in sociological dynamics about what makes a city tick than traditional heroes or villains, creating a complex portrait of humanity at its best and worst.
—Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 2 June 2026
Complex problems were reduced to simple villains.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 2 June 2026
Conversations are cut down, some couples are poised to be the favorites, while other contestants get pigeonholed as the villains.
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 1 June 2026
Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 5 June 2026
The festive, charming and energetic North American tour of the Broadway production is packed with as much nostalgia as new characters that are doppelgangers for the original series’ heroes and villains, and who often challenge our assumptions about their infamous families.
—John Wenzel, Denver Post, 4 June 2026
What villains, from Earth or elsewhere, are most known to threaten humanity?
—Jennifer Maas, Variety, 4 June 2026
Whiplash Most of 'Masters of the Universe''s heroes and villains were one-offs, but some were extremely derivative of other franchises.
—Richard Edwards, Space.com, 4 June 2026
Fast forward two years, and they are now presented as villains in a way no other team has since the late 1990s Yankees teams.
—Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 3 June 2026
Simon was more interested in sociological dynamics about what makes a city tick than traditional heroes or villains, creating a complex portrait of humanity at its best and worst.
—Derek Lawrence, Entertainment Weekly, 2 June 2026
Complex problems were reduced to simple villains.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 2 June 2026
Conversations are cut down, some couples are poised to be the favorites, while other contestants get pigeonholed as the villains.
—Alyssa Goldberg, USA Today, 1 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villains
Noun
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That’s happened in several Mid Atlantic rivers, but in the absence of larger brutes like blues and flathead, channels will thrive and can break the 15-pound mark.—
Joe Cermele,
Outdoor Life,
9 Apr. 2026
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In Raspail’s tale, hordes of impoverished and dark-skinned brutes from India descend onto French shores by way of rafts, the first wave of an invasion of the civilized West by the brown-skinned developing world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Democrats never dare to criticize any of these Third World monsters, only the cops trying to protect American taxpayers from their cruel depredations.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
7 June 2026
-
This is because the main enemies in this game look to be large chitinous alien monsters, which your titular Gundam can slice into tiny pieces.—
Ollie Barder,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
Noun
-
Russian athletes are routinely asked to answer for the actions of their government, yet athletes from other countries are rarely subjected to the same scrutiny or treated as though they are personally aligned with war criminals or dictators.—
Jon Root OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
7 June 2026
-
Rafay Baloch, a cybersecurity expert and author of the book Web Hacking Arsenal, says that criminals specifically look for travelers who appear disoriented.—
Christopher Elliott,
Forbes.com,
6 June 2026
Noun
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Some offenders already are barred, including those convicted of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
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Florida prosecutes children as adults for serious crimes and sends juvenile offenders to adult prisons at higher rates than any other state.—
Jay Blitzman,
The Conversation,
8 June 2026
Noun
-
But there are lots of potential devils in the details (otherwise there’d be little need for experimental reactors).—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2026
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Tasmanian devils — agile, mostly nocturnal animals that can roam for 10 miles in a single night — have been extinct on the Australian mainland for more than 3,000 years.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
4 June 2026
Noun
-
The Indians in Westerns had war paint and whooped like savages.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 May 2026
-
Smoothbrain libs and savages can KMA.—
Joe Kinsey OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2026
Noun
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Deportees from the United States are especially vulnerable to robbery and kidnapping because gangs and bandits assume that their families can pay larger ransoms.—
Caitlin Dickerson,
The Atlantic,
15 May 2026
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Joined by her hapless but loyal classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), Prue navigates a world of talking animals, bandits, and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
13 May 2026
Noun
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New Orleans has long been notorious for embracing such scoundrels, a reputation that isn’t exactly helped by the fact that, for many years, disgraced attorneys who lost their licenses in Louisiana and applied for readmission to the bar often got it.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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Political leaders who encourage or tolerate such scoundrels should be driven from office.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Villains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villains. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
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