Villainy
['vɪlənɪ] or ['vɪləni]
Definition
(noun.) a criminal or vicious act.
(noun.) the quality of evil by virtue of villainous behavior.
Edited by Jeanne--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The quality or state of being a villain, or villainous; extreme depravity; atrocious wickedness; as, the villainy of the seducer.
(n.) Abusive, reproachful language; discourteous speech; foul talk.
(n.) The act of a villain; a deed of deep depravity; a crime.
Typed by Carlyle
Examples
- A long silence ensued; during which the Jew was plunged in deep thought, with his face wrinkled into an expression of villainy perfectly demoniacal. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- I can force him from his position of security, I can drag him and his villainy into the face of day, by no other means. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I warn my kyind friends, then, that I am going to tell a story of harrowing villainy and complicated--but, as I trust, intensely interesting--crime. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- There has been some villainy here, said Holmes; this beauty has guessed Miss Hunter's intentions and has carried his victim off. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- There is some underhand villainy at work to frighten my sister about her approaching marriage. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- All I felt safe in charging on him to-night, was old companionship in villainy between them. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Villainy is the matter; baseness is the matter; deception, fraud, conspiracy, are the matter; and the name of the whole atrocious mass is--HEEP! Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I never thought of such villainy! Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- It seldom happens, that we do not think an enemy vicious, and can distinguish betwixt his opposition to our interest and real villainy or baseness. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- It was the variegated villainy and novelty of it that charmed us. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- But I will proclaim thy villainy, Templar, from one end of Europe to the other. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- I have not yet told you the height of his villainy, said she. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- It was a masterpiece of villainy, and he carried it out like a master. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- If they'd never been taught how to write they wouldn't have been able to scribble such villainy. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- It is a sacrilege, a crime, a villainy to hold that such a marriage is binding. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
Inputed by Barbara