悪人(あくにん)

あくにん
noun
villain; bad person; evil person
1. villain; bad person; evil person
A person who does bad things or has bad intentions. Used in both literal contexts (a criminal) and figurative or dramatic ones (a villain in a story).
悪人(あくにん)を捕(つか)まえた。
They caught the villain.
彼(かれ)はドラマの中(なか)で悪人(あくにん)を演(えん)じている。
He is playing a villain in the drama.
悪人(あくにん)のように見(み)えるが、本当(ほんとう)は心(こころ)の優(やさ)しい人(ひと)だ。
He looks like a villain, but he is actually a kind-hearted person.

Combines 悪(あく) (evil) + 人(にん) (person). Commonly used in fiction, news, and everyday speech.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 悪人(あくにん)を捕(つか)まえる: to catch a criminal
  • 悪人(あくにん)扱(あつか)いする: to treat someone as a villain
  • 悪人(あくにん)面(づら): villainous face

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 悪者(わるもの): bad guy, villain — more colloquial, often used in children's contexts
  • 犯人(はんにん): perpetrator, criminal — specifically someone who committed a crime
  • 悪党(あくとう): scoundrel, villain — stronger connotation of organized or cunning wrongdoing
general
Added 2026.6.11 4:39 · Revised 2026.6.11 4:46
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