- 1the main bad character in a story, play, etc. He often plays the part of the villain. Wordfindercharacteranti-hero, baddy, character, goody, hero, love interest, narrator, protagonist, trait, villain Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivemovie, pantomime, screen, … verb + villaincast somebody as, play, catch, … phrasesthe villain of the piece See full entry See related entries: Elements of a play, Film plots, Characters in a story
- 2a person who is morally bad or responsible for causing trouble or harm the heroes and villains of the 20th century Industrialized nations are the real environmental villains. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivemovie, pantomime, screen, … verb + villaincast somebody as, play, catch, … phrasesthe villain of the piece See full entry See related entries: Immoral
- 3(informal) a criminal Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivemovie, pantomime, screen, … verb + villaincast somebody as, play, catch, … phrasesthe villain of the piece See full entry Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘a rustic, boor’): from Old French vilein, based on Latin villa.Extra examples He doesn’t fit the standard stereotype of a movie villain. He felt that the insurance companies were the real villains in all this. He has played villains in most of his films. He wore a black cloak, like a pantomime villain. She seems to have cast me as the villain in her latest emotional upheaval. The Queen in ‘Snow White’ is one of film’s greatest villains. The police still haven’t caught the villain. heroes and villains of the 20th centuryIdioms
villain
nounBrE BrE//ˈvɪlən//; NAmE NAmE//ˈvɪlən//
Elements of a play, Film plots, Immoral, Characters in a story(especially humorous) the person or thing that is responsible for all the trouble in a situation It’s hard to identify the real villain of the piece in this case.
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