Standard Lemma guide

villainous

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈvɪlənəs/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: V IH1 L AH0 N AH0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Wicked, offensive, or reprehensible in nature or behaviour; nefarious.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

extremely wicked

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • nefarious schemes
  • a villainous plot
  • a villainous band of thieves

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: nefarious

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: شِرِّير (širrīr) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Bulgarian: злодейски (zlodejski) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • French: crapuleux — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • French: scélérat — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Georgian: ბოროტული (boroṭuli) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Georgian: ბოროტმოქმედული (boroṭmokmeduli) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Georgian: საძაგელი (saʒageli) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • German: niederträchtig — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • German: bösartig — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Ancient Greek: πανοῦργος (panoûrgos) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Irish: bithiúnta — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Japanese: 悪辣なる (akuratsu naru) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Latin: scelestus — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Portuguese: vilanesco — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Russian: злой (zloj) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Russian: злоде́йский (zlodéjskij) — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Spanish: villano — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain
  • Swedish: skurkaktig — of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain