Meanings
nounbad guy (plural bad guys)
plural bad guys
- informala villain, particularly an antagonist in a story.
Perversely, we love John Wick himself. That lethal, bereaved assassin is a good bad guy for our times, the natural extension of Tony Soprano, Walter White and all the other heroic antiheroes the culture has embraced.
2023 March 14, Caryn James, “John Wick: Chapter 4: 'Soars above most action films'”, in BBC, archived from the original on 05 Jan 2026Synonyms: villain
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna villain, particularly an antagonist in a story.
Similar
Opposite
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 壞人 /坏人, 壞蛋 /坏蛋
- 壞人 /坏人 (huàirén)a villain
- 壞蛋 /坏蛋 (huàidàn)a villain
- 惡人 /恶人 (èrén)a villain
Danish skurk
- skurka villain
Finnish pahis, vastustaja
- pahisa villain
- vastustajaa villain
French méchant, mauvais
- méchanta villain
- mauvaisa villain
- salauda villain
German Bösewicht, Böser
- Bösewichta villain
- Bösera villain
- Missetätera villain
- Schurkea villain
Indonesian orang jahat
- orang jahata villain
Italian cattivista
- cattivistaa villain
Japanese 悪者, 悪人
- 悪者 (warumono)a villain
- 悪人a villain
Korean 악인
- 악인 (agin)a villain
Russian плохо́й па́рень, злоде́й
- плохо́й па́рень (ploxój párenʹ)a villain
- злоде́й (zlodéj)a villain
- плохо́й (ploxój)a villain
Swedish bov, skurk
- bova villain
- skurka villain
- ful typa villain
Cite this entry
APA
bad guy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20guy
MLA
“bad guy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20guy. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bad guy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bad%20guy.
Source: bad guy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.