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

Based on author Gregory Maguire’s spin on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the perspective of its most dastardly villain, Wicked follows would-be nemeses Galinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba as their unlikely friendship blossoms in college. —Sezin Koehler, EW.com, 28 Feb. 2025

The closer analogy may actually be to Star Wars, a story about a boy named Luke Skywalker who is told that a dastardly villain called Darth Vader killed his father, Anakin Skywalker, only to discover that Vader is his father. —Eliana Dockterman, Time, 31 Mar. 2025

Back in Montana, every trip Jacob and company take to Bozeman and back is inevitably fraught with peril — if not instigated by dastardly rich guy Donald Whitfield (Timothy Dalton) and/or his henchman Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn), then by the pitiless nature of extreme weather. —Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2025

Based on author Gregory Maguire’s spin on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the perspective of its most dastardly villain, Wicked follows would-be nemeses Galinda (Ariana Grande) and Elphaba as their unlikely friendship blossoms in college. —Sezin Koehler, EW.com, 28 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1542, in the meaning defined at sense 1