A strong, somewhat literary term for a treacherous or wicked person, often implying betrayal or scheming. Not an everyday casual word.
He went down in history as a traitor who sold out his country.
The villain deceived people with clever lies.
裏切り者 is the everyday word for 'traitor' or 'betrayer'. 奸賊 is more literary and implies a scheming, wicked nature beyond simple betrayal.
Standard kanji spelling for 'villain, traitor'.
Variant spelling using 姦 (wicked, cunning). Less common but attested.
Compound of 奸 (wicked, cunning) and 賊 (bandit, rebel). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the combination conveys a treacherous villain.