Correct spelling, explanation: villains is a word of Latin origin, but English borrowed it from Old French in the times of Middle English. The French form used to be villein, but when it entered Middle English, it was spelled as villains. The meaning, however, was different as it was a synonym for boors.

Definition of villains:
1. noun – it refers to bad people who hurt others or to bad characters in books or films;
The police are trying to catch the villains who mugged the woman in the street.
He has played villains several times so far and is really good at it.

Idioms and phrases with villains:
Some common phrases are as follows:
1. villains of the piece/story – the real cause of some problem;
The girls changed the story to make other classmates the villains of the story.
2. cast somebody as villains – to make others look like the cause of some problem;
She cast her parents as the villains during their last argument.

Incorrect spelling, explanation: a common mistake made by both native users of English and learners is to spell the word villains as villans. The mistake probably results from the pronunciation of the word as it indeed doesn’t feature the second -i letter. Nevertheless, it appears in writing and the only correct spelling is villains.

Incorrect spelling

Incorrect spelling

Incorrect spelling

Incorrect spelling