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.

Rumors abound that Matangi will be Moana 2's big bad. —

Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 24 Nov. 2024 Trek in order to protect innocent European bike manufacturers from a big bad American company with the capability of producing futuristic aero bikes at scale. —

Eben Weiss, Outside Online, 22 Nov. 2024 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 See all Example Sentences for big bad