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 delicious reality show, The Traitors, is back with a vengeance for its fourth season, and my mom and I are devouring every episode while rapid-fire texting each other from our respective couches in Cleveland and Los Angeles.
—
Jamie Allison Sanders, PEOPLE, 16 Jan. 2026
The dastardly whalers brutally kill the Tulkun, and Quaritch joins a whaling expedition to snuff out Jake Sully and his family.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, Glinda has become the literal poster child for goodness, a part of the propaganda machine against Elphaba honchoed by the Wizard and the dastardly Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh).
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 Nov. 2025
But the couple have yet to conceive an heir, so when Jerome absconds and his dashing friend Manfred (Galitzine) arrives with dastardly intentions, Hero (Corrin), Cherry’s wily and loyal maid, is forced to concoct a plan to distract Manfred by telling captivating stories about rebellious women.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dastardly
Jamie Allison Sanders, PEOPLE, 16 Jan. 2026
The dastardly whalers brutally kill the Tulkun, and Quaritch joins a whaling expedition to snuff out Jake Sully and his family.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, Glinda has become the literal poster child for goodness, a part of the propaganda machine against Elphaba honchoed by the Wizard and the dastardly Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh).
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 Nov. 2025
But the couple have yet to conceive an heir, so when Jerome absconds and his dashing friend Manfred (Galitzine) arrives with dastardly intentions, Hero (Corrin), Cherry’s wily and loyal maid, is forced to concoct a plan to distract Manfred by telling captivating stories about rebellious women.
—Lily Ford, HollywoodReporter, 19 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dastardly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dastardly
Adjective
-
His crime was deliberate, cowardly and calculated.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
12 Feb. 2026
-
Political courage is needed, especially from the cowardly, groveling Congress.—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
18 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Don’t be afraid to wear these shoes to the fullest.—
Caroline Hughes,
Travel + Leisure,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Thank you for your attempt at helping in the noble cause of mannerliness, but Miss Manners is afraid that your suggestion represents the problem, not the solution.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
16 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
But to defend books coverage in these craven terms is already to concede too much.—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Assad’s betrayal was so breathtakingly craven that some people had trouble believing it at first.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The tight-lipped kids are more ready to trust her, and one clearly scared girl references the diner from the prologue.—
Jordan Hoffman,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Feb. 2026
-
Among your characters, the men, outside of Sam Rockwell, look scared and the women do the heavy-lifting to save the world.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
While protesters may be frightened and grieving after last month's bloodbath, they're not mollified.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Inside the bathysphere of the novel, readers make contact with a darkness that our frightened minds might otherwise reject.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Some also have lost lawyers, dismayed by the pusillanimous behavior of their leaders.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2025
-
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
-
The holiday marks the arrival of spring in the Vietnamese calendar, and our house fills with yellow apricot blossoms, chrysanthemums, and marigolds.—
Lisa Wong Macabasco,
Vogue,
17 Feb. 2026
-
Last month, the model posed in a cozy butter yellow bra and legging set from Alo as part of a campaign for the athleisure brand.—
Meg Walters,
InStyle,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
That larger significance is remarkably unheroic and fatalistic.—
Gabriel Winslow-Yost,
Harper's Magazine,
23 Sep. 2024
-
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 21 Feb. 2026.
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