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state of being a villain, or villainous; extreme depravity; atrocious wickedness; as, the villainy of the seducer. "Lucre of vilanye." Chaucer. The commendation is not in his wit, but in his villainy. Shak.

trociously wicked; cruel; mournful; calamitous; horrible. "This day's black fate." "Black villainy." "Arise, black vengeance." "Black day." "Black despair." Shak.

That which is left; a remnant; a fragment; a scrap; as, odds and ends. I clothe my naked villainy With old odd ends stolen out of holy writ, And seem a saint, when most I play the devil. Shak.

ly, an exceeding offense against order, right, or decency; an atrocious crime; flagitious villainy; an atrocity. These clamorous enormities which are grown too big and strong for law or shame. South.

ds another in bulk, stature, weight, power, skill, etc. ; one offender exceeds another in villainy; his rank exceeds yours. Name the time, but let it not Exceed three days. Shak. Observes how much a chintz exceeds mohair. Pope.

An object of scorn; a dupe; a gull. [Obs.] To become the geck and scorn O'the other's villainy. Shak.

nce of virtue or religion; a simulation of goodness. Hypocrisy is the necessary burden of villainy. Rambler. Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue. La Rochefoucauld (Trans. ).

r the state of being instigated; incitement; esp. to evil or wickedness. The baseness and villainy that . . . the instigation of the devil could bring the sons of men to. South.

The practices of a knave; petty villainy; fraud; trickery; a knavish action. This is flat knavery, to take upon you another man's name. Shak.

To exceed in villainy.

Planned with study; deliberate; studied. For the frigid villainy of studious lewdness, . . . with apology can be invented Rambler.

to be prolific; to abound. His mind teeming with schemes of future deceit to cover former villainy. Sir W. Scott. The young, brimful of the hopes and feeling which teem in our time. F. Harrison.

Usury. [Obs.] Wyclif. Foul usure and lucre of villainy. Chaucer.

Villainy. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Baseness; infamy; villainy. [Obs.] Dryden.

See Villainy.

as soon as now; as, Is it time to go Not yet. See As yet, under As, conj. Ne never yet no villainy ne said. Chaucer.