VILLAIN

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does villain mean? 

• VILLAIN (noun)
  The noun VILLAIN has 2 senses:

1. a wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately

2. the principal bad character in a film or work of fiction

  Familiarity information: VILLAIN used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VILLAIN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A wicked or evil person; someone who does evil deliberately

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

scoundrel; villain

Hypernyms ("villain" is a kind of...):

persona non grata; unwelcome person (a person who for some reason is not wanted or welcome)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "villain"):

blackguard; bounder; cad; dog; heel; hound (someone who is morally reprehensible)

gallows bird (a person who deserves to be hanged)

knave; rapscallion; rascal; rogue; scalawag; scallywag; varlet (a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel)

villainess (a woman villain)

Derivation:

villainous (extremely wicked)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The principal bad character in a film or work of fiction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

baddie; villain

Hypernyms ("villain" is a kind of...):

character; part; persona; role; theatrical role (an actor's portrayal of someone in a play)

 Context examples 

Mr. Alec stopped to see if he could help the dying man, and so the villain got clean away.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Be assured, sir,” said he, “no pains or exertions on my part shall be spared to discover the villain.”

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

We have had our eyes upon this Mr. Milverton for some time, and, between ourselves, he was a bit of a villain.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the making of a very pretty villain in you.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One would imagine that under such circumstances the first act of young Cadogan West would be to seize the villain and raise the alarm.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It’s play or pay, and the villains are taking advantage of it.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The villain hath fallen forward into the fire.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Oh, the little villain! That's the way he meant to pay me for keeping my word to Mother.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“Have you heard the story? What were these villains after but money? What do they care for but money? For what would they risk their rascal carcasses but money?”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

There, cried the sparrow, thou cruel villain, thou hast killed my friend the dog.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)