as in brute
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
only a heartless villain would kidnap a baby for ransom
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of villain
After Daredevil instinctively throws himself in the way of a bullet to save Kingpin’s life during the season’s penultimate episode, the villain appears more ruthless than ever.
—
Skyler Trepel, People.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Even when a big threat does arrive on the scene, the heroes aren't there right away, so plenty of innocent people get hurt before a villain gets brought to justice.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
Whereas Serena could easily have emerged as a one-note villain, from the beginning of her tenure on the series, Strahovski has imbued Serena with a soulfulness that often puts the audience uncomfortably on her side, despite her reprehensible actions.
—Scarlett Harris, IndieWire, 7 Apr. 2025
Woosnam: This fixture had those two as villains for so long.
—Andy Naylor, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for villain
Skyler Trepel, People.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Even when a big threat does arrive on the scene, the heroes aren't there right away, so plenty of innocent people get hurt before a villain gets brought to justice.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
Whereas Serena could easily have emerged as a one-note villain, from the beginning of her tenure on the series, Strahovski has imbued Serena with a soulfulness that often puts the audience uncomfortably on her side, despite her reprehensible actions.
—Scarlett Harris, IndieWire, 7 Apr. 2025
Woosnam: This fixture had those two as villains for so long.
—Andy Naylor, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for villain
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villain
Noun
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By the end of the episode, the audience is eager to meet the antihero, the brute, that everyone is talking about.—
Maelle Beauget-Uhl,
Forbes,
14 Mar. 2025
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Slinging a sports coat over his pajamas, Long pulls up to a curb and finds Tay (Dustin Nguyen), the Vietnamese speaker, plus two silent brutes, Eddie (Phi Vu) and Aden (Dali Benssalah), who muscle into his car and take over everything: the seating arrangements, the air freshener and their driver.—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Switch was a monster, so the assumption is that sure, players will pay a full 50% more for a new one, if not more.—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes.com,
24 Apr. 2025
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Oviedo and Sepúlveda shared with las Casas the view that Indians were not monsters and did, in fact, have souls that could be saved (a matter of debate for much of the sixteenth century).—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
23 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Fire crackling in Burt’s (Christopher Walken) dining room, framing his face like a devil.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes,
21 Mar. 2025
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Wooly devil grows near drought-tolerant plants, including ocotillo, hedgehog cactus and creosote.—
Sarah Kuta,
Smithsonian Magazine,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Reckless sanctuary city policies create a sanctuary for one class — criminals.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
26 Apr. 2025
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Trump has expressed support for Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's maximum security prison, calling it an effective solution for U.S. criminals.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Often regarded by historians as a collection of savage tribes, the Scythians emerge as a pivotal force of the ancient world in this monumental history.—
The New Yorker,
The New Yorker,
30 Jan. 2023
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Nearly 32 years ago, Rodney King’s savage beating by police in Los Angeles prompted heartfelt calls for change.—
Aaron Morrison, Claudia Lauer and Adrian Sainz,
Anchorage Daily News,
29 Jan. 2023
Noun
-
Some of the beasts may have developed frightening mutations.—
Jack Smart,
People.com,
19 Apr. 2025
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But the palazzo's aesthetic centerpiece is Bar della Musa, which is lined with polished silver tiles that shimmer like the scales of a mythic beast.—
Travel + Leisure Editors,
Travel + Leisure,
16 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In the first, Trump treated a moral hero as an ungrateful scoundrel.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
27 Apr. 2025
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That edge is somewhat novel in Star Wars’s universe of smugglers, which typically feels bifurcated between scoundrels with a heart of gold and petty criminals who are rarely more than their base nature.—
Nicholas Quah,
Vulture,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The caps proved popular with dockworkers, shipwrights and bandits, and, over time, the baker boy hat became synonymous with the newsboy cap (which was actually worn by boys working at newsstands).—
Rosa Rahimi,
CNN Money,
18 Apr. 2025
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Security cameras at the church captured images of the bandit, who appears to be an older white woman.—
Roni Jacobson,
New York Daily News,
29 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Villain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villain. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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