villain
/ˈvɪl.ən/ noun, verb
Also a form of villein
Forms villains villaining villained villan
- noun A vile, wicked person.
- noun An extremely depraved person, or one capable or guilty of great crimes.
- noun A deliberate scoundrel.
- noun (archaic, derogatory) A low-born, abject person.
- noun (fiction) A character who has the role of being bad, especially antagonizing the hero; an antagonist who is also evil or malevolent.
- noun (poker) Any opponent player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: hero (“the current player”). “Let's discuss how to play if you are the chip leader (that is, if you have more chips than all the villains).”
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To debase; to degrade .
Synonyms
antagonist knave rascal scamp cad antimodel bad guy baddie bastard beggar blackguard bounder cockatrice coistril evildoer fustilarian harlot heavy lidderon makeshift scoundrel
Antonyms
Etymology
Probably from Middle English vilein, from Old French vilein (modern French vilain), in turn from Late Latin vīllānus, meaning serf or peasant, someone who is bound to the soil of a Latin vīlla, which is to say, worked on the equivalent of a plantation in late Antiquity, in Italy or Gaul. Doublet of villein.
Compare typologically pagan (see more).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One who holds lands by a base, or servile, tenure, or in villenage; a feudal tenant of the lowest class, a bondman or servant.
- noun A baseborn or clownish person; a boor. [R.]
- adjective Villainous. [R.] Shak.
- verb To debase; to degrade. [Obs.] Sir T. More.
Etymology [OE. vilein, F. vilain, LL. villanus, from villa a village, L. villa a farm. See Villa.]
Etymology [F. vilain.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “villain”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details