villain

/ˈvɪl.ən/

//ˈvɪl.ən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"villain" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“villain” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,624. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,624
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A vile, wicked person.

Corpus desk

Index EN-villain · villain · English

villain · rank #8,624 · 8 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,624
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH verify

Nearest frequency peer: verify (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “villain”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “villain” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

villain vs violin
71% similar
villain vs villainy
88% similar
villain vs villa
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for villain
PropertyValue
Headwordvillain
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈvɪl.ən/
Letters7
Frequency rank#8,624
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “villain”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).villainlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “verify” (#8,623), “whats” (#8,625), “uniforms” (#8,622). Among 969 “V” headwords, “villain” is #8,624. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around villain (IPA /ˈvɪl.ən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,624 among 969 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for villain, with forms such as "ivllain", "vilain", and "vilalin". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "violin", "villainy", "villa", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Probably from Middle English vilein, from Old French vilein (modern French vilain), in turn from Late Latin vīllānus, meaning serf or peasant, someone who is bound to the soil of a Latin vīlla, which is to say, worked on the equivalent of a plantation in la… The correct English form is villain, spelled V-I-L-L-A-I-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A vile, wicked person.
  2. 2
    A vile, wicked person.
  3. 3
    A vile, wicked person.
  4. 4
    A low-born, abject person.
  5. 5
    A character who has the role of being bad, especially antagonizing the hero; an antagonist who is also evil or malevolent.
  6. 6
    Any opponent player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: hero (“the current player”).
  7. 7
    Archaic form of villein (“feudal tenant, peasant, serf”).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how villain appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Oh moſt pernicious woman! / Oh Villaine, Villaine, ſmiling damned Villaine!
  2. Thou ly’ſt thou ſhagge-ear’d Villaine.

Etymology

Probably from Middle English vilein, from Old French vilein (modern French vilain), in turn from Late Latin vīllānus, meaning serf or peasant, someone who is bound to the soil of a Latin vīlla, which is to say, worked on the equivalent of a plantation in late Antiquity, in Italy or Gaul. Doublet of villein.

Synonyms

knaverascalscampcadantimodelbad guybaddiebastardblackguardboundercoistrilevildoerfustilarianharlotheavylidderonmakeshiftmiscreantne'er-do-wellnidingnithingrapscallionroguescabscapegracescoundrelscumscumbagthugundesirablevarletvillain

Antonyms

hero

This word in other languages

villano(Español)scélérat(Français)Schurke(Deutsch)vilão(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ivllain
  • vilain
  • vilalin
  • villainn
  • villani
  • villian
  • vlilain
  • vvillain

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of villain - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ivllain2vilain1vilalin2villainn1villani2villian2vlilain2vvillain1
Edit distance from "villain"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "villain"?
"villain" is spelled V-I-L-L-A-I-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈvɪl.ən/.
What does "villain" mean?
As a noun, "villain" means: A vile, wicked person.
What words are commonly confused with "villain"?
"villain" is commonly confused with "violin", "villainy", "villa". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "villain"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "villain" is /ˈvɪl.ən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "villain"?
Probably from Middle English vilein, from Old French vilein (modern French vilain), in turn from Late Latin vīllānus, meaning serf or peasant, someone who is bound to the soil of a Latin vīlla, which is to say, worked on the equivalent of a planta... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "villain", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

whistle#8,626terrace#8,617abusive#8,633sucking#8,614

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

whats8 variantsshiny8 variantsopener8 variantsManila8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list