Wickedness in the village (4)
I believe the answer is:
evil
'wickedness' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'in the village' is the wordplay.
'in' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'EVIL' can be found hidden inside 'the village'.
(Other definitions for evil that I've seen before include "Vile (anag) -- really bad" , "Malign" , "Very wicked or bad" , "Wicked - sin" , "Maleficent" .)