pantomime villain

plural pantomime villains

1. UKcountablefigurativelyuncountableA person who has become a designated villain, often seen as cartoonishly villainous; someone people "love to hate".

   The 'pantomime villain' he was labelled by the BBC commentary team, Abrial collected his medal [...] to a chorus of boos from those inside the Manchester Centre.

   19 November 2022, Callum Walker, “Referee causes controversy in Wheelchair World Cup Final with bizarre actions as England defeat France”, in Rugby League World

   5 more examples

   The pantomime villain of British politics has exited stage right - leaving for a third and presumably final time, with the crowd booing. [...] From the moment of his appointment, Sir Gavin's third act in government irritated colleagues. After a divisive tenure as chief whip, difficult time as defence secretary and deeply troubled time as education secretary. Bluntly, he is unpopular.

   9 November 2022, Sam Coates, “Gavin Williamson's departure is about more than just the messages”, in Sky News

   The news will likely please many, as Mateu Lahoz has become something of a pantomime villain over the festive period. That is, until a controversial decision goes against their team with another official.

   5 January 2023, “Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz put 'in the fridge' for card-happy performances”, in OneFootball

   Pantomime villain [...] We all have those rugby players that just we dislike for whatever reason. It's hard to forget those specific moments in matches that had us raging. An injury to your star player? Moaning to the referee? World class rugby players don't take losing well, but some take it worse than others. But who are the players that rugby fans just love to hate, and why?

   2023 February 10, “Every home nations most hated player by rival fans in the Six Nations”, in RUCK

   With Owen Farrell returning to the England XV this weekend, who are rugby's greatest "pantomime villains" in world rugby. Though it's a relatively subjective term when applied to rugby players, in this context, we use it to identify big names who, despite their undoubted quality, have earned a reputation—rightly or wrongly—as something of a villain.

   2023 March 16, “Fans Rank Rugby's Top 5 Pantomime Villains”, in RUCK

   This week, though, away from City on international duty, Rodri has been firmly on the radar. He's riled two opposition fanbases, added a new dimension to the Premier League title race, and emerged as the Blues' unlikely pantomime villain going into the last two months of the campaign.

   30 March 2023, Joe Bray, “Rodri has become Man City's unlikely pantomime villain”, in Manchester Evening News

2. UKcountableuncountableA character archetype in pantomime entertainment.

   In contrast, the best of the Pantomime villains are even entitled to misbehave, overact, and be disdainful of the audience.

   2020 February 3, “The Best of the Pantomime Villains”, in Blackpool Grand Theatre