Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VIL'LAIN-OUS, a. [from villain.]

1. Base; very vile.
2. Wicked; extremely depraved; as, a villainous person or wretch.
3. Proceeding from extreme depravity; as, a villainous action.
4. Sorry; vile; mischievous; in a familiar sense; as, a villainous trick of the eye. – Shak. Villainous judgment, in old law, a judgment that casts reproach on the guilty person.