cattivo
/katˈti.vo/
The Italian phrase for bad guy is cattivo.
cattivo can be used as a noun to mean a villain. In the context of a story or movie, il cattivo is the standard way to refer to the antagonist. While it can mean bad guy, it is more frequently used as an adjective meaning bad or evil.
Meaning: a villain (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word changes based on gender and number: use cattiva when referring to a female bad guy, cattivi for masculine plural bad guys and cattive for feminine plural bad girls.
How do you pronounce it?
/katˈti.vo/, 3 syllables, stressed on the 2nd syllable.
Did you know?
- The word cattivo comes from the Latin captīvus, meaning 'captive'. Over time, the meaning shifted from being a prisoner to someone 'caught by the devil' and finally to 'bad'.
- The word cattivo can be used to describe food that has gone bad, such as 'cattivo latte' for sour milk.
- In some regional dialects, calling someone cattivo can occasionally be used ironically or affectionately to describe a 'cheeky' or 'mischievous' child.
Examples in context
- Non è un cattivo ragazzo.He isn't a bad guy.This sentence is useful for seeing how to use cattivo in a sentence.Tatoeba #3549937 by Guybrush88, translation #11701015 by Nuel
- Il detective ha arrestato il cattivo della storia.The detective arrested the bad guy of the story.
- Il cattivo del film è molto spaventoso.The bad guy in the movie is very scary.
- Non mi piace quel cattivo della storia.I don't like that villain of the story.
Example conversation
Francesco and Chiara are discussing a book they just finished.
- FrancescoChiara, hai letto il libro?Chiara, did you read the book?
- ChiaraSì, ma il cattivo era terribile.Yes, but the bad guy was terrible.
- FrancescoConcordo, era davvero un cattivo crudele.I agree, he was a truly cruel villain.
- ChiaraFrancesco, mi ha fatto molta paura.Francesco, he really scared me.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry cattivo, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cattivo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
