villain

plural villains · alternative archaic villan

1. A vile, wicked person.

   Thou ly’ſt thou ſhagge-ear’d Villaine.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 145, column 2

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   Oh moſt pernicious woman! / Oh Villaine, Villaine, ſmiling damned Villaine!

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v], page 258, column 1

   1. An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes.
   2. A deliberate scoundrel.
2. archaicderogatoryA low-born, abject person.

   Note the preſumption of this Scythian ſlaue: I tel thee villaine, thoſe that lead my horſe Haue to their names tytles of dignitie, And dar’ſt thou bluntly cal me Baiazeth?

   c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii

3. fictionA character who has the role of being bad, especially antagonizing the hero; an antagonist who is also evil or malevolent.

   In some ways, it’s a relief to see tech bros, especially AI entrepreneurs, reach full, unambiguous movie-villain status.

   2025 June 2, Adrian Horton, “Tech-bro satire Mountainhead is an insufferable disappointment”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2025

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   Miss Phyllis Morgan, as the hapless heroine dressed in the shabbiest of clothes, appears in the midst of a gay and giddy throng; she apostrophises all and sundry there, including the villain, and has a magnificent scene which always brings down the house, and nightly adds to her histrionic laurels.

   1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Affair at the Novelty Theatre”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020

   As The Dark Knight Rises brings a close to Christopher Nolan’s staggeringly ambitious Batman trilogy, it’s worth remembering that director chose The Scarecrow as his first villain—not necessarily the most popular among the comic’s gallery of rogues, but the one who set the tone for entire series. […] But in the underground tunnel system, a powerful new villain emerges in Bane (Tom Hardy), a bulked-out mercenary in a gas mask who may look and speak like a professional wrestler, but who carries out a thoroughly considered plan to isolate Gotham and impose his own sadistic vision of government upon it.

   2012 July 18, Scott Tobias, “The Dark Knight Rises”, in AV Club, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2012

   Synonyms: antagonist

4. card gamesAny opponent player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: hero (“the current player”).

   Let's discuss how to play if you are the chip leader (that is, if you have more chips than all the villains).

5. archaicArchaic form of villein (“feudal tenant, peasant, serf”).

present singular third person villains · participle present villaining · participle past villained · past villained · alternative archaic villan

1. obsoletetransitiveTo debase; to degrade .First known use 16th century