Meaning of anti-villain | Babel Free

Definitions

An antagonist who has or may have noble or honorable aims, but pursues them destructively.

Equivalents

Examples

“As much the anti-hero initially as Thorpe is anti-villain, Tinley's function in the first volume is to expose to Catherine various modes of triviality and affectation.”

“The rise of the anti-hero as the protagonist of much of modern fiction was accompanied by the rise of what one might call the “anti-villain,” ironically understood as more interesting than his heroic counterpart.”

CEFR level