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
Even the Dodgers, the cartoon villains of spending, kind of sort of have a limit.
—
Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
Head coach Patty Gasso and her bunch remain the biggest villains in the Texas softball universe.
—Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
As the Masters of the Universe makes its way to the big screen, one of Saturday morning cartoons’ most iconic villains is getting the cinematic treatment.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 6 Feb. 2026
Barraza, who was a member of the 501st Legion, a fan group that painstakingly re-creates Star Wars villains' costumes, already had her new suitcases packed — which resembled the ones Harry Potter took with him to Hogwarts.
—Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
As long as there have been Oscars, there have been Oscar villains.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2026
As if cursed since the Civil War, residents continue to mistake their homegrown villains for heroes.
—Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Following the events of the first film, the Federation’s Man Hunters are now portrayed more openly as the clear villains.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026
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
Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 18 Feb. 2026
Head coach Patty Gasso and her bunch remain the biggest villains in the Texas softball universe.
—Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 6 Feb. 2026
As the Masters of the Universe makes its way to the big screen, one of Saturday morning cartoons’ most iconic villains is getting the cinematic treatment.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 6 Feb. 2026
Barraza, who was a member of the 501st Legion, a fan group that painstakingly re-creates Star Wars villains' costumes, already had her new suitcases packed — which resembled the ones Harry Potter took with him to Hogwarts.
—Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 4 Feb. 2026
As long as there have been Oscars, there have been Oscar villains.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2026
As if cursed since the Civil War, residents continue to mistake their homegrown villains for heroes.
—Judy Berman, Time, 30 Jan. 2026
Following the events of the first film, the Federation’s Man Hunters are now portrayed more openly as the clear villains.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes.com, 30 Jan. 2026
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villains
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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Set between Seasons 2 and 3 of Stranger Things, Tales from ’85 returns viewers to Hawkins in the stark winter of 1985, where the original characters must confront new monsters and unravel a paranormal mystery that is terrorizing their town.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
11 Feb. 2026
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Other Avina Comics characters include a mariachi man who fights monsters using a silver string guitar and a luchador wrestler on a mission.—
Anna Ortiz,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE has new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities.—
Jeff Capellini,
CBS News,
20 Feb. 2026
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His office is more concerned about arresting police officers than prosecuting criminals.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Cowley wants to champion policies that attack the root causes of violence while holding offenders accountable, according to her campaign website.—
Olivia Stevens,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Feb. 2026
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My key priorities include prosecuting violent offenders, gangs, traffickers, fentanyl dealers, and cartels; supporting local law enforcement; pursuing lawsuits to defend Texas; and aggressively investigating and prosecuting fraud.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 Feb. 2026
Noun
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There are sounds and shadows in the forest; the Devil, or devils, may be walking the earth.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2026
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And then there are the infernal workers who make sure that Lucifer’s realm runs smoothly, among them farting devils, giants in chains, and a flying monster with the body of a serpent and the face of an honest man.—
Eric Bulson,
The Atlantic,
2 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Or Irish, in a time when they were seen as savages by the Englishmen?—
Arushi Jacob,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The bandits are those who help themselves and cause others a loss.—
Jonny Thomson,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
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The West African nation has been fighting an insurgency for more than a decade, with Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State of West Africa Province, in addition to several amorphous groups commonly referred to as bandits.—
Pelumi Salako,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Giannis, a gentleman even in this era of scoundrels, likely wants to do right by the Bucks, too.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
3 Dec. 2025
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These twin influences, religious fervor and a preoccupation with dangerous men, would go on to define the next six decades of the director’s working life, finding expression as a conviction that even scoundrels are in possession of a soul.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Villains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villains. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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