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 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 Fans had convinced themselves that the demonic Marvel supervillain Mephisto was the real big bad of the series and that Al Pacino was going to play him. —

Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Sep. 2024 The movie’s tremendously powered big bad, Cassandra Nova, is played by a bald-headed Emma Corrin, though the real big bad is a corporate sleaze (Matthew Macfadyen) obsessed with ruthless efficiency and streamlining. —

Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for big bad

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'big bad.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.