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
But there’s something genuinely unsettling about watching Katherine get stalked by the bubbles from her bath or the room itself somehow teleport around the hotel; if nothing else, the suite is certainly one of the season’s more unusual villains.
—
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Marie, Andre, Jordan, and Emma put down the supe uprising, but then psychotic fascist Homelander showed up to condemn them as villains and herald the murderous Cate and Sam as top students and potential recruits for the thoroughly corrupt Seven.
—Ew Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2025
This also extends to the villains.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
The show’s world slowly expands; we’re introduced to a biker gang that traffics fentanyl up and down the East Coast, a handful of inexperienced agents and state police officers who get absorbed into Tom’s task force, stray villains with face tattoos, cheerful water-ice vendors.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2025
Plana played one of the two main villains in Three Amigos.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2025
There are true and proper villains (Mordred, Morgan Le Fay).
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
This season had a couple of red-herring villains.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2025
The next big bad in Jared Leto's motley crew of sinister screen villains has finally been announced.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 21 Dec. 2024
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025
Marie, Andre, Jordan, and Emma put down the supe uprising, but then psychotic fascist Homelander showed up to condemn them as villains and herald the murderous Cate and Sam as top students and potential recruits for the thoroughly corrupt Seven.
—Ew Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Sep. 2025
This also extends to the villains.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
The show’s world slowly expands; we’re introduced to a biker gang that traffics fentanyl up and down the East Coast, a handful of inexperienced agents and state police officers who get absorbed into Tom’s task force, stray villains with face tattoos, cheerful water-ice vendors.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2025
Plana played one of the two main villains in Three Amigos.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2025
There are true and proper villains (Mordred, Morgan Le Fay).
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 8 Sep. 2025
This season had a couple of red-herring villains.
—Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2025
The next big bad in Jared Leto's motley crew of sinister screen villains has finally been announced.
—Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 21 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villains
Noun
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An extermination of the brutes in the Middle East, presided over by Obama’s successors, has been followed by a swift cancellation by Trumpian decree of the postracial age.—
Pankaj Mishra,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
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Some are slow and heavy brutes that have tons of health while others are slightly but deal more damage.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
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This quiz invites you to explore the darker corners of sci-fi literature, where monsters lurk not just in shadows, but in laboratories, alien worlds and post-apocalyptic wastelands.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
16 Sep. 2025
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Watch out for monsters under the bed.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican running in the 2026 race for governor, said the ban showed Newsom and Democratic lawmakers care more about the safety of criminals than officers.—
Gerardo Zavala,
NPR,
20 Sep. 2025
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The majority of people in this field did not set out to be criminals.—
Chris Wysopal,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Weapons seems to break such cycles, leaving no more devils hiding in basements or upstairs bedrooms playing with dolls or ribbons of hair.—
Richard Newby,
HollywoodReporter,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Just this morning, DHS took violent offenders off the streets with arrests for assault, DUI, and felony stalking.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Sep. 2025
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Instead of a sense of outrage leading to a search for a better solution for repeat violent offenders, her death generated calls for collective retribution and vigilante justice.—
Zeynep Tufekci,
Mercury News,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Over $200 Off NFL Sunday Ticket NFL fans can make out like bandits with the DraftKings Sportsbook welcome offer.—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Sep. 2025
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Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern were cast as the bumbling but dogged bandits, Harry and Marv, and Catherine O’Hara brought humor and compassion to the part of Kevin’s mother.—
Tim Greiving,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Deep in the distant universe, astronomers have found a black hole that seems to be breaking the usual rules for how fast these cosmic beasts can grow.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
21 Sep. 2025
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These objects are absolute beasts, millions or billions of times the mass of the sun, and are found in the cores of all big galaxies.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Swashbucklers, scoundrels, bandits and buccaneers will soon be bellying up to the bar inside a lively new pirate pub at Walt Disney World that’s already booked solid for the first two months and promises to be a must-have reservation for visitors.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
29 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Villains.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villains. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.
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