baddie
Pluralbaddies
- 1A person of bad character, especially one who appears in a film, novel, or other work of fiction.
The film's baddie is so charming that half the audience ends up rooting for him.
It's unfair to treat the whole company as the baddies because of one manager's decision.
UsageOften paired with goodies: goodies and baddies. In formal writing, villain is the usual word.
Similarvillain, antagonist, evildoer
Oppositegoodie
Note
Bad plus the -ie ending gives a word that pairs naturally with its opposite, goodie, and the two travel together: Paul Vautin's Turn It Up! (1995) grumbles about "goodies versus baddies movies." With "the" and a plural, it names a whole side rather than one character. That is the joke behind "Hans, are we the baddies?" in That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006).
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Baddie is formed from bad plus -ie. en.wiktionary.org
- Paul Vautin wrote Turn It Up!, published in 1995. en.wikipedia.org
- Vautin complains about movies using the exact phrase quoted. en.wiktionary.org
- The quotation occurs in That Mitchell and Webb Look. en.wikipedia.org
- That Mitchell and Webb Look dates from 2006. en.wikipedia.org
- 2An attractive, confident woman, especially one known as an influencer on social media.
With her flawless contour and designer sunglasses, she's every inch the Instagram baddie.
The brand paid a dozen TikTok baddies to show off its new lip gloss.
UsageOften after a platform name: Instagram baddie, TikTok baddies.
Note
A new slang use turns the villain meaning inside out: here a baddie is someone to admire, not to boo. It clings to platform names (Instagram baddie, IG baddies, Insta baddies) and calls up a polished look of contour, crop tops and plenty of makeup. Priya-Alika Elias still sets it in scare quotes in Besharam (2019).
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Priya-Alika Elias uses baddies in quotation marks in Besharam. en.wiktionary.org
Practice
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Origin
Formed from the adjective bad combined with the suffix -ie.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- Baddie is formed from the adjective bad and the suffix -ie. en.wiktionary.org