as in brutes
a mean, evil, or unprincipled person
only a heartless villain would kidnap a baby for ransom
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Recent Examples of villains
In keeping with the promotion, the Sox players’ photos on the video board cast them as villains wearing black and eye patches.
—
Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 17 June 2026
Beyond harsher criticism, sports media frames Black athletes differently — often naming them as villains, failures, antagonists or questioning their leadership when necessary.
—Brielle Miller, Baltimore Sun, 16 June 2026
Alongside Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley and his best friend, Shaggy Rogers, Scooby spent decades unmasking supposedly supernatural villains while winning over generations of fans with his goofy charm, insatiable appetite and signature catchphrases.
—Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 14 June 2026
The Texas Tech Red Raiders' heel turn, from lovable outsiders looking to shake up the system to the unquestioned villains of college football, has been equal parts staggering and entertaining.
—Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 June 2026
And marketing machines don’t tend to fare as well when cast as villains.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 11 June 2026
Notorious Knicks villains such as Trae Young, Joel Embiid and CJ McCollum received similarly contentious choruses in recent postseasons.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 10 June 2026
The book is full of stories of villains, like the venomous heroin that took so many of Seattle’s crusaders as well as the music industry that never quite understood where Soundgarden belonged.
—Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 9 June 2026
And, hey, the league is better when there are villains.
—Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 5 June 2026
Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 17 June 2026
Beyond harsher criticism, sports media frames Black athletes differently — often naming them as villains, failures, antagonists or questioning their leadership when necessary.
—Brielle Miller, Baltimore Sun, 16 June 2026
Alongside Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley and his best friend, Shaggy Rogers, Scooby spent decades unmasking supposedly supernatural villains while winning over generations of fans with his goofy charm, insatiable appetite and signature catchphrases.
—Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 14 June 2026
The Texas Tech Red Raiders' heel turn, from lovable outsiders looking to shake up the system to the unquestioned villains of college football, has been equal parts staggering and entertaining.
—Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 June 2026
And marketing machines don’t tend to fare as well when cast as villains.
—Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 11 June 2026
Notorious Knicks villains such as Trae Young, Joel Embiid and CJ McCollum received similarly contentious choruses in recent postseasons.
—Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 10 June 2026
The book is full of stories of villains, like the venomous heroin that took so many of Seattle’s crusaders as well as the music industry that never quite understood where Soundgarden belonged.
—Selena Fragassi, SPIN, 9 June 2026
And, hey, the league is better when there are villains.
—Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 5 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villains
Noun
-
That’s happened in several Mid Atlantic rivers, but in the absence of larger brutes like blues and flathead, channels will thrive and can break the 15-pound mark.—
Joe Cermele,
Outdoor Life,
9 Apr. 2026
-
In Raspail’s tale, hordes of impoverished and dark-skinned brutes from India descend onto French shores by way of rafts, the first wave of an invasion of the civilized West by the brown-skinned developing world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Gremlins walked the earth so Labubu monsters could run to a World Cup.—
Caoimhe O'Neill,
New York Times,
14 June 2026
-
However, classist monsters online have engaged my inner Hammond and my inner ‘Rat.—
Gretchen Kalwinski,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2026
Noun
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An allegation last year by a provincial police commander that top officers and officials were colluding with organized criminals led Ramaphosa to announce a national investigation into police corruption.—
Michelle Gumede,
Los Angeles Times,
13 June 2026
-
Roman emperors, sometimes urged on by the crowd, were known to grant pardons (to criminals) and freedom (to the enslaved) after an especially noteworthy performance.—
Cullen Murphy,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2026
Noun
-
The program, which is likely to run in the afternoons or evenings, and would be open anyone looking to change careers, returning veterans and ex-offenders, Awwad said.—
Kenneth R. Gosselin,
Hartford Courant,
14 June 2026
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All colors change under different lights, but white is one of the biggest offenders due to its highly reflective quality.—
Sophie Flaxman,
Better Homes & Gardens,
13 June 2026
Noun
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But there are lots of potential devils in the details (otherwise there’d be little need for experimental reactors).—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
9 June 2026
-
Tasmanian devils — agile, mostly nocturnal animals that can roam for 10 miles in a single night — have been extinct on the Australian mainland for more than 3,000 years.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
4 June 2026
Noun
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Or a group of shipwrecked boys turning into savages and killing one another?—
Glenn Whipp,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
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The Indians in Westerns had war paint and whooped like savages.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 May 2026
Noun
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In the movie, Furiosa is taken from her idyllic home by bandits and grows up shuttled between psychopath Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and warlord Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme).—
Rebecca Aizin,
PEOPLE,
17 June 2026
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Deportees from the United States are especially vulnerable to robbery and kidnapping because gangs and bandits assume that their families can pay larger ransoms.—
Caitlin Dickerson,
The Atlantic,
15 May 2026
Noun
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New Orleans has long been notorious for embracing such scoundrels, a reputation that isn’t exactly helped by the fact that, for many years, disgraced attorneys who lost their licenses in Louisiana and applied for readmission to the bar often got it.—
Patrick Radden Keefe,
New Yorker,
13 Apr. 2026
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Political leaders who encourage or tolerate such scoundrels should be driven from office.—
Tom Nichols,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Villains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villains. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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