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

There is something oddly delightful about a movie that leans into some basic and cheesy ’80s-action-movie machinations — good guys, bad guys, innocent corporate hostages, a rouge hero — and so on. —Tomris Laffly, Variety, 21 Feb. 2025

Alan Ritchson stars as the lead character, Reacher, a veteran military police investigator who wanders the country stopping bad guys, solving murders, unraveling conspiracies, and pursuing justice. —Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2025

When that happens, that’s when bad guys stop being the cautionary tales that they were intended to be. —Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 15 Feb. 2025

Good guys and bad guys have been using trackers in stories for a long time. —Jason Ogaard, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1914, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bad guy

• apply
• awry
• belie
• bely
• bigeye
• bonsai
• buckeye
• comply
• coxae
• decry
• defy
• deny