Meaning of pantomime villain | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A person who has become a designated villain, often seen as cartoonishly villainous; someone people "love to hate".
   British, countable, figuratively, uncountable
2. A character archetype in pantomime entertainment.
   British, countable, uncountable

Examples

“The pantomime villain of British politics has exited stage⟳ right - leaving for a third and presumably final time, with the crowd booing. [...] From the moment of his appointment, Sir Gavin's third act in government irritated colleagues. After a divisive tenure as chief whip, difficult time as defence secretary and deeply troubled time as education secretary. Bluntly, he is unpopular.”

“The 'pantomime villain' he was labelled by the BBC commentary team, Abrial collected his medal [...] to a chorus of boos from those inside the Manchester Centre.”

“The news will likely please⟳ many, as Mateu Lahoz has become⟳ something of a pantomime villain over the festive period. That is, until a controversial decision goes against their team with another official.”

“Pantomime villain [...] We all have⟳ those rugby players that just we dislike for whatever reason⟳. It's hard to forget⟳ those specific moments in matches that had us raging. An injury to your star player? Moaning to the referee? World class rugby players don't take⟳ losing well, but some take⟳ it worse than others. But who are the players that rugby fans just love⟳ to hate⟳, and why?”

“With Owen Farrell returning to the England XV this weekend, who are rugby's greatest "pantomime villains" in world rugby. Though it's a relatively subjective term when applied to rugby players, in this context, we use⟳ it to identify⟳ big names who, despite their undoubted quality, have⟳ earned a reputation—rightly or wrongly—as something of a villain.”

“This week, though, away from City on international duty, Rodri has been firmly on the radar. He's riled two opposition fanbases, added a new dimension to the Premier League title race⟳, and emerged as the Blues' unlikely pantomime villain going into the last⟳ two months of the campaign.”

“Let's begin⟳ with the pantomime villain that everyone seemingly loves to hate⟳, Elon Musk. Just a few weeks after he switched the [Twitter brand] logo away from the blue bird for shits'n'giggles he was actually demonstrating a smart comms move⟳.”

“In contrast, the best of the Pantomime villains are even entitled to misbehave, overact, and be disdainful of the audience.”

CEFR level