villain

noun

ˈvi-lən How to pronounce villain (audio)
Definition of villainnext
as in brute
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person only a heartless villain would kidnap a baby for ransom

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 villain The next scene introduces Farrell as the villain in this story. — Deborah Day, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026 It must be asked how Macklemore turned the narrative and turned a Jewish philanthropist — who pledged $2 million to Gaza humanitarian aid — into the villain of the story? — Kenneth L. Marcus, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026 The way it’s framed, both the heroes and the villains can only come from the tech community. — Rumman Chowdhury, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2026 Jeon Do-yeon, who plays the family’s matriarch, is colorfully slinky as a globe-trotting party widow, a vain, compulsively seductive narcissist who macks on her daughters’ men like a Real Housewife given a villain’s edit. — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for villain
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villain
  1. brute
  2. monster
  3. criminal
  4. devil
  5. savage
  6. offender
  7. scoundrel
  8. beast
Noun
  • Most sportsmen wonder how any whitetail bucks, let alone a brute such as Kontras’, could have been so easily patterned.
    — Jeff Murray, Outdoor Life, 20 Aug. 2026
  • The show’s depiction of Hugh as a family man has been much more sympathetic than the book’s description of him as a power-hungry brute.
    — James Grebey, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of brute
Noun
  • The main three projects — The Mummy, The Loudest Voice and Unabomber — each involve monsters in various forms.
    — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The world has seen many hurricanes rapidly intensify in recent years, strengthening from relatively weak storms into destructive monsters in a matter of hours.
    — Chanh Kieu, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of monster
Noun
  • The Financial Action Task Force, the global money-laundering watchdog, has warned that criminals exploit citizenship and residency programs to conceal their identities, launder illicit wealth and evade justice.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
  • The real risk is that a criminal could forge your signature on a deed or trick you into signing paperwork that transfers ownership, then file that document with the local office that maintains property records.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminal
Noun
  • Behave yourself, buddy, or the little red devil will take you away!
    — Sanat Pai Raikar, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Dostoyevsky’s sniveling devil comes closest to portraying the man chiefly responsible for organizing the Final Solution.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of devil
Noun
  • The Danish director’s Pusher trilogy (which was restored and rereleased last year) had been handheld, hyperrealistic, and savage; Drive, on the other hand, was ethereal and moody, its characters submerged, their delivery precise.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026
  • One of the best Saturday morning traditions during college football season is not only watching ESPN's best program on the network, College Gameday, but seeing the hilarious, savage, and unique signs fans put together each week.
    — Jon Root OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of savage
Noun
  • The Oak Lawn and Alsip village boards voted to regulate the use of security foggers in businesses as a method to deter offenders.
    — Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Too often, special occasions can feel like an excuse to buy a new outfit; weddings are the worst offenders.
    — Corinne Pierre-Louis, Vogue, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of offender
Noun
  • Meanwhile, Frank Dillane plays Willoughby, Marianne’s love interest, with such commitment that the actor was surprised to learn his character is universally acknowledged to be a scoundrel.
    — Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 21 Sep. 2026
  • But as with any good Leonard story, the best moments come from the characters, a rogues’ gallery of violent ruffians and neurotic, duplicitous scoundrels.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of scoundrel
Noun
  • Still, these are highly watchable actors, and as a movie to have on in the background while making dinner, Animals — so named for the lawless beast inside all of us, not that there’s much traction in that theme — will play just fine on Netflix.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Dangerous donkeys On one side is the public safety crowd, who insist the 500-pound beasts are a menace to the free flow of commerce.
    — Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of beast

Browse Nearby Words

villages
villain
villainess
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Cite this Entry

“Villain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villain. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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