villain

noun

vil·​lain ˈvi-lən How to pronounce villain (audio)
Synonyms of villainnext
1
: a character in a story or play who opposes the hero
2
: a deliberate scoundrel or criminal
3
: one blamed for a particular evil or difficulty
… witness the wolf, at once ecological hero and agricultural villain.—Ben Goldfarb
4
: villein
5
: an uncouth person : boor

Synonyms of villain

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of villain in a Sentence

He plays the villain in most of his movies. She describes her first husband as a villain who treated her terribly. Don't try to make me the villain. It's your own fault that you're having these problems.
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Bezos previously said that Mamdani was creating a villain of billionaires. — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026 What had been a highlight of his hunting career was turning into a soap opera, with Rompola painted as the villain by those who never saw the deer or the antlers and didn’t know much, if anything, about it. — Richard P. Smith, Outdoor Life, 27 Aug. 2026 Even so, as the 2026 season comes to an end, Clark is not taking the route some other athletes in his situation might choose – embracing becoming the villain. — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 27 Aug. 2026 Pedro Pina, YouTube’s vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, used this year’s James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival to challenge the narrative that the platform is a villain in British television’s decline. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for villain

Word History

Etymology

Middle English vilain, vilein, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin villanus, from Latin villa

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Time Traveler
The first known use of villain was in the 14th century

Rhymes for villain

See All Rhymes for villain

Browse Nearby Words

Villahermosa
villain
villainage
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Villain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/villain. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

villain

noun
vil·​lain ˈvil-ən How to pronounce villain (audio)
1
: villein
2
: an evil person : scoundrel
3
: a character in a story or play who opposes the hero
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of dissonant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All