as in evil
not conforming to a high moral standard; morally unacceptable
villainous behavior that made him one of the most notorious figures in history and gave rise to the legend of Dracula
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Recent Examples of villainous
Hackman would soon after play another villainous Western sheriff in 1995’s The Quick and the Dead, a performance which almost feels like an unofficial spinoff.
—
James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2025
Jared Leto stars as the villainous Skeletor, while rounding out the cast are Idris Elba, Camila Mendes, Morena Baccarin, James Purefoy, and Alison Brie.
—Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025
There’s an apocryphal story among J.R.R. Tolkien fans that the fantasy author’s villainous portrayals of spiders were inspired by a childhood incident when a tarantula bit him.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025
Moore and Brave New World director Julius Onah also previously confirmed to EW that Esposito's Sidewinder will be back after debuting as the leader of the villainous Serpent Society.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for villainous
James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2025
Jared Leto stars as the villainous Skeletor, while rounding out the cast are Idris Elba, Camila Mendes, Morena Baccarin, James Purefoy, and Alison Brie.
—Ross Rosenfeld, Newsweek, 26 Feb. 2025
There’s an apocryphal story among J.R.R. Tolkien fans that the fantasy author’s villainous portrayals of spiders were inspired by a childhood incident when a tarantula bit him.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2025
Moore and Brave New World director Julius Onah also previously confirmed to EW that Esposito's Sidewinder will be back after debuting as the leader of the villainous Serpent Society.
—Nick Romano, EW.com, 14 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for villainous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for villainous
Adjective
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Hot on the trail of a new brood of evil Mogwai, our heroes journey deep into the American West, coming up against new supernatural creatures and picking up a few mysterious characters along the way.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
6 Mar. 2025
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Fans have long waited to see how the show, produced by Skybound Entertainment, adapts this massive event from Kirkman's comics, which sees Angstrom (Sterling K. Brown) assemble an army of evil Marks from alternate dimensions to lay siege to Earth.—
Nick Romano,
EW.com,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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The campaign materials were unequivocal: Worley believed LGBT influences in society were immoral.—
Nick Penzenstadler,
USA TODAY,
4 Mar. 2025
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And so Rose, immortal on the field, with a bat, was judged immoral off it by the saints who guard baseball’s gate.—
Greg Cote,
Miami Herald,
4 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Legal experts say the moves are likely unlawful, workers complain they were sloppily handled, and the whole process runs the risk of doing long-term damage to critical workings of the federal government.—
Emily Peck,
Axios,
12 Mar. 2025
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Duterte's former legal counsel Salvador Panelo said the arrest was unlawful, and said the police did not allow one of his lawyers to meet Duterte at the airport.—
Karen Lema,
USA TODAY,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Michelle Yeoh Yeoh may be in her villain era, but there's nothing sinful about her Louvre look.—
Edward Segarra,
USA TODAY,
5 Mar. 2025
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The dominant Christian theology of the Middle Ages held that wealth was inherently sinful in a world where most people toiled in terrible poverty.—
Brian Klaas,
The Atlantic,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Contrary to what many people believe, pit bulls don't naturally have a bad temperament, are not inherently vicious, and are not more dangerous than other dogs.—
Faisal Kutty,
Newsweek,
12 Mar. 2025
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At age 55, the director of the vicious South Korean social satire Parasite specializes in adolescent appeal.—
Armond White,
National Review,
12 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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As are the people supporting or justifying these vile acts of terrorism.—
Bobby Zirkin,
Baltimore Sun,
24 Feb. 2025
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And for anyone who's forgotten just how vile Whitfield is, the next scene serves as a nasty reminder.—
Matt Cabral,
EW.com,
23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The two swap places to reunite their divorced parents while also attempting to derail Annie’s dad's engagement to his soon-to-be wicked fiancee, Meredith.—
Kara Nesvig,
Parents,
12 Mar. 2025
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Linebacker Dre Greenlaw, formerly of San Francisco, is one of those wicked sideline-to-sideline hammers with coverage skills, assuming his Achilles is right.—
Sean Keeler,
The Denver Post,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Boat Rocker’s slate currently comprises the likes of 1980s throwback dark comedy Video Nasty, drama series Mix Tape and Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber’s Sundance 2024 doc War Game.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
11 Mar. 2025
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The outage was random and intermittent, lasting for 45 minutes at a time, then resuming only to go dark again for another 45 minutes.—
John Brandon,
Forbes,
11 Mar. 2025
Articles Related to villainous
Cite this Entry
“Villainous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/villainous. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.
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