as in cowardly
having or showing a shameful lack of courage
his dastardly conduct in a critical moment haunted him for the rest of his life
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Recent Examples of dastardly
The dastardly First Order has set up a base in the northeast corner.
—
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Phaedra Parks, a lawyer turned reality star turned mortician turned reality star, has become the surprise fan favorite of the second season of Peacock’s dastardly game of deception The Traitors.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 1 Mar. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for dastardly
Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 29 Apr. 2025
Phaedra Parks, a lawyer turned reality star turned mortician turned reality star, has become the surprise fan favorite of the second season of Peacock’s dastardly game of deception The Traitors.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 1 Mar. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for dastardly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dastardly
Adjective
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The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to 'take out' Iran's Supreme Leader.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
19 June 2025
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Those who resort to violence to undermine our state and nation must be held accountable, and our state leaders must reinforce through decisive action that these cowardly attacks will not be tolerated.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Like Tracy, the high school student, Jordan was afraid of the overpass.—
Ariane Lange,
Sacbee.com,
17 June 2025
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Certain breeds, like smaller ones, or those bred for companionship, are more likely to be afraid of cats.—
Maria Azzurra Volpe,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 June 2025
Adjective
-
The disconnect between Trump’s stagings of brute force is striking and more than a little worrisome for those who have long thought civilian control of the military would have stopped such a craven choice.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
11 June 2025
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To abet Trump’s fake reality, the craven House Republicans refused to put up a plaque honoring the police officers and others who defended the Capitol that awful day.—
Maureen Dowd,
Mercury News,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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Remember, this animal is likely scared too. Do not move toward the shark.—
Jaclyn Cosgrove,
Los Angeles Times,
19 June 2025
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The story itself is stripped to bone and sinew: a sleepy New England beach town that wants tourist dollars more than truth, an invisible killer in plain water, and three men — one scared sheriff, one cocky scientist, one Ahab of a fisherman — set adrift to settle nature’s score.—
Philip Martin,
Arkansas Online,
19 June 2025
Adjective
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Instead, federal authorities are hiding, apparently too frightened of online provocateurs and in-person hecklers to do their duty in plain sight.—
Anita Chabria,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2025
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Others who live close to the jail were downright frightened.—
Chris Kenning,
USA Today,
17 June 2025
Adjective
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Some also have lost lawyers, dismayed by the pusillanimous behavior of their leaders.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2025
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The second believed the United States could attain comprehensive security through military-technological means and saw diplomacy as a quixotic or pusillanimous enterprise that dishonored and weakened the country.—
A. Wess Mitchell,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The look features bright coral eyeshadow covering the eyelid, a fuchsia shade in the crease, and a swipe of fluorescent yellow eyeliner on the outside half of the eye and right under the brow.—
Andrea Park,
Teen Vogue,
20 July 2017
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Three prominent Austin chefs teamed up with the Youngblood family to build a new restaurant from scratch that looks like a legacy chicken dinner house, down to the bright blue-and-yellow colors and the helpings of hot yeast rolls with honey.—
Bud Kennedy,
star-telegram,
19 July 2017
Adjective
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That larger significance is remarkably unheroic and fatalistic.—
Gabriel Winslow-Yost,
Harper's Magazine,
23 Sep. 2024
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In the world of The Boys, based on the gleefully scabrous 2000s indie comic-book series of the same name by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson, superheroes are real, pop-culture-dominating, and with rare exceptions, entirely unheroic.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
13 June 2024
Cite this Entry
“Dastardly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dastardly. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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