bad guy

noun

1

informal : the villain in a story : baddie

played the bad guy in the movie

2

informal : someone who is likened to the villain in a story: such as

a

: a criminal

Designed to keep guns out of the hands of bad guys and children …

—Popular Science

b

: a military enemy

… a decision that owes more to parochial conflicts within the Armed Forces than to doing the best job of surveilling bad guys.

—Stuart F. Brown

c

: someone who deserves to be blamed or criticized for causing a bad situation

Meanwhile, it's the environmentalists who are now portrayed as the bad guys, hiring lots of lawyers, consorting with congressmen …

—Eric Alterman

d

: a person who treats other people harshly or strictly : a person who says or does unpopular things

Parenting isn't just about having beautiful kids and being busy. It's about dealing with problems, and your success as a parent depends on your willingness to be the bad guy. If you aren't willing to be the bad guy, you shouldn't be a parent.

—Roy Bragg

Examples of bad guy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That sirens were bad guy alert systems was further and clearly reinforced with public service announcements from the Office of Civil Defense, which ran on our TVs frequently. —Jody Mamone, Hartford Courant, 22 Nov. 2024

For those not familiar with the video game or the Angelina Jolie movie or the Alicia Vikander movie or the Netflix anime series, Croft is a British archaeologist who raids tombs — the video game had players solving puzzles and fighting bad guys while wearing tiny outfits. —Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2024

Justin has his own experience dealing with bad guys. —Suzanne Seggerman, Curbed, 14 Nov. 2024

But are you fully prepared to dance the night away with your favorite bad guy? —David Wysong, The Enquirer, 8 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1