villain

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“
And what is doubly unfair to the poor villain, the author of the book sympathizes with the others from first to last; whereas, if the villain were allowed to explain himself in his own way, not the author's, he would stand in the centre of the picture.

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Definitions (18)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun A wicked or evil person; a scoundrel.
  2. noun A dramatic or fictional character who is typically at odds with the hero.
  3. noun Variant of villein.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • She didn't have the heart for such treachery, though, for the villain was already pinned down and at her mercy, so she ended up tearing a piece of fabric from her petticoat and stuffing the thing into his mouth to keep him from crying out for help. —  Garwood, Julie - The Gift
  • You know that old saying, "the villain is the hero of his own story"? —  Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch
  • From executive producers Paul Attanasio, Katie Jacobs, David Shore, and Bryan Singer comes a new take on mystery, where the villain is a medical malady and the hero is an irreverent, controversial doctor who trusts no one, least of all his patients.
  • Because the villain is a bank -- and since the stock market hit an iceberg, it's become the national pastime to hate banks.
  • Is it possible the villain will be the Black Widow, the curvy Russian spy from Marvel Comics who is also a likely character in the "Iron Man" film franchise? —  Zap2it.com - Zap 2 News & Buzz
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This word has been looked up 341 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

scoundrel ·  tyrant ·  thief ·  traitor ·  wretch ·  liar ·  ruffian ·  brute ·  robber ·  fool ·  hypocrite ·  knave

Used in the same contextWord Family

villain:   villains
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English vilein, feudal serf, person of coarse feelings, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *vīllānus, feudal serf, from Latin vīlla, country house; see weik-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Also archaically, in legal and historical use, villein; formerly sometimes villan, early modern English vilayn, etc.; from Middle English vilain, vilein, vileyn, also sometimes vilains, vilans, vileyns, from Old French vilein, vilain, villain, villein, nominative also vilains, vilainz, French vilain, a farm-servant, serf, peasant, clown, scoundrel, also adjective base, mean, wicked, = Provencal vilan, vila = Spanish villano = Portuguese villão = Italian villano, from Middle Latin villanus, a farm-servant, serf, clown, from Latin villa, a farm: see vill. The forms villain, villein, etc., are historically one, and the attempt to differentiate them in meaning is idle.
  2. Early modern English also vilayn; from villain, n.
 

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/ˈvɪlən/
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