Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

villainous

/ˈvɪlənəs/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.84 in modern English

Syllables: vil-lain-ous
IPA: /ˈvɪlənəs/

13

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain.

adj

Wicked, offensive, or reprehensible in nature or behaviour; nefarious.

Example Sentences

"Tuc[ca]. […] Can thy Author doe it impudently enough? / Hiſt[rio]. O, I warrant you, Captaine: and ſpitefully inough too; he ha's one of the moſt ouerflowing villanous wits, in Rome. He will ſlander any man that breathes; If he diſguſt him. / Tucca. I'le know the poor, egregious, nitty Raſcall; and he haue ſuch commendable Qualities, I'le cheriſh him: […]"
"Bah! to this toilet for the villainous boredom of church."
"Baltar, played hammily as a selfish, cowardly survivor, is to “Battlestar Galactica” what Erica Kane is to “All My Children” an amusingly villainous central character who brings a little campy comic relief to all that earnest, jaw-clenched melodrama."

Etymology

From Middle English vileinous, from Old French vileneus. By surface analysis, villain + -ous.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: vileinous, vileneus

Inflected Forms

more villainous (comparative) most villainous (superlative) villanous (alternative, obsolete)

Derived Forms

nonvillainous supervillainous unvillainous villainously villainousness

Synonyms

villainly villainy nefarious

Questions

How do you pronounce villainous?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈvɪlənəs/.
What does villainous mean?: Of, relating to, or appropriate to a villain.
Where does villainous come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce villainous

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “villainous”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈvɪlənəs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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