villainous

UK/ˈvɪlənəs/US/ˈvɪlənəs/

adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #11,926 of 15,258leans written

Villainous means wicked in the manner of a story's villain. A villainous grin, villainous behaviour, look villainous.

It is theatrical rather than serious, which is why it suits moustaches and cackles more than real crime. The villain was originally a farm labourer, and the word's descent from that to wickedness is a lesson in how the powerful describe the poor.

Definitions of villainous

1adjectivevillainousWicked in the manner of a story's villain.B2+
“The actor with the long black moustache played the villainous landlord.”

villainous is a quality.

Where it comes from

Old French vileneus comes from vilain, a peasant, from Latin villa, a farm.

Old French
vileneus
Middle English
vileinous
English, today
villainous

From Middle English vileinous, from Old French vileneus. by surface analysis, villain + -ous.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

villainous in the wild

A second villainous version debuts during the Silver Age in The Avengers #69, and a second heroic version debuting in The Avengers #85.
Whizzer (Marvel Comics)
As Hindi cinema evolved, he successfully transitioned from villainous to character and comic roles, continuing to appear in films and television well into the 21st century.
Prem Chopra
However, in the next season, Mumbly was included in Hanna-Barbera's second crossover show, Laff-A-Lympics, on the villainous "Really Rottens" team.
The Mumbly Cartoon Show
Known for his villainous and comic roles in Hindi films, he has featured in over 700 films.
Shakti Kapoor
The second (villainous) Super-Chief debuted in The Adventures of Superman Annual #9 in a story by Mike W.
Super-Chief

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

villain

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