big bad

noun

variants or Big Bad
plural big bads or Big Bads
: a major villain or antagonist (as in a movie, show, or game)
When Ursula, the story's big bad, took to the screen, I would run behind the entertainment center and cover my eyes, a fact my mom loves to remind me about whenever she gets the chance.KT Hawbaker
As the show [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] aged, the Big Bads became more dangerous and the lessons more adult, but Buffy never gave up …Kaitlin Thomas
The Big Bad this time around is the wind mage Vaati, who has captured Zelda, and it's your quest to defeat him and prevent the unholy union of princess and evil eyeball-blob-thing.Tony Ponce

Examples of big bad in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
All Along’s big bad might end up being by the season’s midway point, when Sharon and Alice had already bitten the dust. Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 1 Nov. 2024 There’s an interesting twist in that the big bad — Kate del Castillo as the mother of the man Mike fathered — is a participant in some vague form of black magic and seems to be communing with the netherworld. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 12 Oct. 2024 Smile 2 definitely has its share of the latter, peaking when the series’ big bad forces a host to bash his skull in with a weightlifting plate. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2024 But for David Howard Thornton, who plays the films' big bad, Art the Clown, the release of Terrifier 3 marks a happy occasion to add a chilling new method of mutilation to the list — freezing. Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 12 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for big bad 

Word History

First Known Use

2001, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of big bad was in 2001

Dictionary Entries Near big bad

Cite this Entry

“Big bad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/big%20bad. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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