dastardly

adjective

das·​tard·​ly ˈda-stərd-lē 

1

: cowardly

2

: characterized by underhandedness or treachery

a dastardly attack

a dastardly villain

dastardliness noun

Synonyms

• chicken
• chicken-livered
• chickenhearted
• cowardly
• craven
• gutless
• lily-livered
• milk-livered [archaic]
• poltroon
• pusillanimous
• recreant
• spineless
• unheroic
• yellow

Choose the Right Synonym for dastardly

cowardly, pusillanimous, craven, dastardly mean having or showing a lack of courage.

cowardly implies a weak or ignoble lack of courage.

a cowardly failure to stand up for principle

pusillanimous suggests a contemptible lack of courage.

the pusillanimous fear of a future full of possibility

craven suggests extreme defeatism and complete lack of resistance.

secretly despised her own craven yes-men

dastardly often implies behavior that is both cowardly and treacherous or skulking or outrageous.

a dastardly attack on unarmed civilians

Examples of dastardly in a Sentence

a dastardly attack on innocent civilians

his dastardly conduct in a critical moment haunted him for the rest of his life

Recent Examples on the Web

Vance immediately placed blame on President Biden for the dastardly attempt on Trump’s life, seeking to promote anger and division, his invective spewed before anything was known about the gunman. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 18 July 2024

But when the Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora) pulls a dastardly coup, Red goes back in time with Cinderella’s daughter Chloe (Malia Baker) to stop the prank that turned her then-positive mom (Ruby Rose Turner) evil. —Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 12 July 2024

But certain parallels — both films are Apple releases that star Gladstone as a Native American woman forced to navigate law enforcement’s indifference to the disappearances of other Native American women and her white in-laws’ dastardly schemes — make the conversation inevitable. —Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 21 June 2024

In a medium that has oft been used to reinforce certain stereotypes about the Black community, Washington stands as the antithesis to those dastardly intentions, refusing to sacrifice his humanity for a paycheck. —C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 16 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1542, in the meaning defined at sense 1