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