VILLAINS Synonyms: 79 Similar and Opposite Words

villains

noun

plural of villain

as in brutes

a mean, evil, or unprincipled person only a heartless villain would kidnap a baby for ransom

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of villains The Modi government has portrayed the demonstrators as villains. — Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 20 July 2026 Corey Hawkins, who is also Black, gets more screentime than either and is one of the film’s suitor villains. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026 The premise is that the children of iconic Disney movie characters all live in the same world, with the spawn of villains having to make their own way in spite of their families' misdeeds. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 17 July 2026 Still, even as multiple locations and villains pile up, the bond between Agency handler Sam and tech phenom Queenie (Savannah Steyn) keeps the dramedy from imploding. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 15 July 2026 With so many heroes and villains in its library, Disney obviously has a wealth of characters to mine from, but the aim is to be more strategic about which ones make the cut for Descendants. — Kimberly Nordyke, HollywoodReporter, 14 July 2026 Perhaps this game, whatever the result, will come and go relatively peacefully, with no incidents to speak of and no new Argentinian ‘villains’ in the collective English consciousness. — Nick Miller, New York Times, 14 July 2026 Neill played dashing heroes, sinister villains (see The Piano), authority figures, famous figures, and father figures. — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 July 2026 With his rugged handsomeness and wry sense of humor, Neill built an almost-50-year career playing heroes and villains, freaks and geniuses. — Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 13 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for villains

Noun

These brutes commonly exceed 50 pounds.

— Keith Sutton, Outdoor Life, 18 June 2026
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

Definition of brutes

Noun

Over the last two seasons of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the titular demigod (Walker Scobell) has faced off against a minotaur, sailed to the sea of monsters, been chased by Cerberus, and even magically transformed into a guinea pig.

— Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 21 July 2026
With the franchise’s trademark blend of extreme gore and dark humor, the Evil Dead backstory centers on the ancient Book of the Dead that unleashes supernatural evil forces and twists victims into sadistic, shape-shifting, near-invincible monsters.

— Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 21 July 2026

Definition of monsters

Noun

California has some of the nation’s toughest gun laws, but state lawmakers are concerned that a new technology is allowing criminals to obtain firearms by building them from scratch.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026
This lengthy process was typical of ICE’s previous procedures to track down criminals, Sandweg said, which may have shifted under the demands of this administration’s daily arrest goals.

— Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 18 July 2026

Definition of criminals

Noun

Numerous programs are being implemented to attempt to reduce the probability of recidivism through education and counseling and to reintegrate offenders into society.

— Ronald J. Allen, Chicago Tribune, 19 July 2026
Ireland has approved landmark legislation to create the country’s first public register of domestic violence offenders, in a move campaigners say will empower people to check whether a potential partner has a history of violence.

— Kara Fox, CNN Money, 17 July 2026

Definition of offenders

Noun

The 152 rooms celebrate Tasmania’s cultural and creative spirit, from the contemporary paintings of thylacines and Tasmanian devils, to the Blackheart sassafras ceiling inlays.

— Riley Wilson, Travel + Leisure, 19 June 2026
But there are lots of potential devils in the details (otherwise there’d be little need for experimental reactors).

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 9 June 2026

Definition of devils

Noun

Instead, most are romantic stories about young lovers separated by fate, and the rest are swashbuckling adventures full of bandits and pirates.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 June 2026
Fantastical adventures ensue as the pair encounter a mysterious woman, Alexandra, who has lost her son, along with coyotes, bandits, and some pretty big secrets.

— Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 29 June 2026

Definition of bandits

Noun

And the surviving cartel scoundrels take the parting shot by kidnapping beloved Carter, putting a hood on him and taking the boy off.

— Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 3 July 2026
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

Definition of scoundrels

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villainousness

villains

villainy

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“Villains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villains. Accessed 23 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of villains

noun

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