1. a bad person, especially a villain or criminal in a film, novel, or play: "we are the good guys—the black hats lost"
▪ a person who hacks into a computer network with malicious or criminal intent:"black hats have a history of disassembling source code and looking for lapses"
Word Origin1950s: from the colour of the hat traditionally worn by the bad characters in westerns. Compare with white hat.