1
as in criminals
a person who commits moral wrongs
if good people stand by and do nothing, evildoers will triumph
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in villains
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
Iago from Shakespeare's Othello became one of the most notorious evildoers in all of literature
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of evildoers
Second, even if somehow via a magic wand all countries banned AI bot swarms, evildoers would take it upon themselves to do so privately.
—
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
At over 1,200 miles, there’s room to encounter evildoers along the way and fight the weather to deliver the tree by Christmas.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Dec. 2025
The script, penned by Jonathan Tropper and which, of course, is being kept under wraps, is said to see Gosling’s character protect a young charge from evildoers in a galaxy-spanning adventure.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
That makes your account with the cleanup service a juicy target for evildoers who specialize in misusing personal data.
—PC Magazine, 13 Aug. 2025
Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
At over 1,200 miles, there’s room to encounter evildoers along the way and fight the weather to deliver the tree by Christmas.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Dec. 2025
The script, penned by Jonathan Tropper and which, of course, is being kept under wraps, is said to see Gosling’s character protect a young charge from evildoers in a galaxy-spanning adventure.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
That makes your account with the cleanup service a juicy target for evildoers who specialize in misusing personal data.
—PC Magazine, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for evildoers
Noun
-
Göring, played by Russell Crowe, is the troubling centerpiece of James Vanderbilt’s ambitious film devoted to the trial of the major Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg in 1945–1946.—
Alice Kaplan,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
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Also included is a 13% increase in funding for the Department of Justice to focus on violent criminals and a $481 million increase in funding to enhance aviation safety and support an air traffic controller hiring surge.—
LISA MASCARO,
Arkansas Online,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
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But CFCs, the solution to an earlier problem, turned out to be villains in disguise.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
-
These measures are politically popular and ultra-wealthy Big Tech chiefs are easy villains.—
Catherine Thorbecke,
Twin Cities,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
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He’s talked tough in news conferences about prosecuting child predators, drug traffickers and assorted wrongdoers.—
Dan Sullivan,
Miami Herald,
19 Feb. 2026
-
For now, his office is limited to civil actions against wrongdoers and passing information to the receiver and state and federal prosecutors.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The psychology that Bryk wrote for these young men is the key as to why these brutes are more lovable than unbearable.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
14 Mar. 2026
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Credit to producers Tim Zinnemann and George Linder for selecting a veritable array of brutes to wage battle with Arnold.—
Duane Byrge,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Nov. 2025
Noun
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In fact, the pointed hoods of nazarenos are inspired by clothes used to shame sinners during the Spanish Inquisition.—
Alexis Marshall,
NPR,
3 Apr. 2026
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In the comments, Ivey argued with fans using Bible verses and accused several of being sinners for their beliefs and lifestyles.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Holmes qualified for the reduced term under a 2023 rule change allowing first-time offenders to do less time for some non-violent crimes, according to an order issued Thursday by the federal judge who sentenced her in 2022 for defrauding investors in her blood-testing startup.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
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And many Democrats see it as an effort to curb more liberal prosecutors who have embraced restorative justice policies, including steering nonviolent offenders away from prison sentences or taking more lax approaches to drug offenses.—
Riley Bunch,
AJC.com,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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There's also aliens or monsters or some other supernatural entity out to get them.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
30 Mar. 2026
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Sometimes darkly humorous, sometimes strangely heartbreaking, this immersive storytelling experience is Edgar Allan Poe for the modern age; a heart-to-bleeding-heart with madmen, murderers and monsters all dying to tell their story.—
William Earl,
Variety,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Other propaganda compared Native people to buffalo, cats, dogs, and devils.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
13 Mar. 2026
-
There are sounds and shadows in the forest; the Devil, or devils, may be walking the earth.—
Joshua Rothman,
New Yorker,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Evildoers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/evildoers. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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