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
Even Hinch, who has done his best to project calm and confidence during this dastardly stretch, made one of his most questionable decisions in five years managing the Tigers.
—
Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
Blanc is trying to put together a puzzle, but most of its pieces are rooted in the human foibles that drive people to do dastardly things.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
But Season 2 kills off the older Galpins without evoking any fear from their dastardly plans or pity for their ultimate plight.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2025
While Shrek pouts about missing his solo ogre days, the dastardly Rumpelstiltskin takes advantage, offering him a contract to relive that romanticized time in his life — for a day.
—Skyler Trepel September 1, EW.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dastardly
Cody Stavenhagen, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
Blanc is trying to put together a puzzle, but most of its pieces are rooted in the human foibles that drive people to do dastardly things.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 7 Sep. 2025
But Season 2 kills off the older Galpins without evoking any fear from their dastardly plans or pity for their ultimate plight.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2025
While Shrek pouts about missing his solo ogre days, the dastardly Rumpelstiltskin takes advantage, offering him a contract to relive that romanticized time in his life — for a day.
—Skyler Trepel September 1, EW.com, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dastardly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dastardly
Adjective
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Shmi, who died for nothing, the cowardly Jedi refusing to free her, refusing to interfere.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
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My cowardly stread ended today, however.—
Emma Specter,
Vogue,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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After long mornings at my father’s bedside, my mother and I arrived at Confiserie Sprüngli weary and afraid.—
Aleksandra Crapanzano,
The Atlantic,
27 Oct. 2025
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And while Parker wasn’t afraid of no ghosts, what about Huey Lewis’ lawyers?—
Joe Lynch,
Billboard,
27 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Missourians have the opportunity to put this craven power grab up for a vote.—
Adeola Adeosun,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Sep. 2025
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There are lots of good rebuttals to this craven move.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Continue reading … 'DISGUSTING' – Jen Psaki jokes Usha Vance scared of her husband, ripped for 'disgusting' comments.—
,
FOXNews.com,
22 Oct. 2025
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The opening sequence — involving a scared little boy whose fear only accelerates during a nightmarish car ride — is a decent bellwether for the first five episodes (which is all that were screened for critics, of the eight total).—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The Japanese had cyclotrons but no nuclear lobby driven by frightened, concerned, or ambitious scientists.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
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Her parents were opposed to the Russian occupation but too frightened to talk about it.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
19 Oct. 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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Norris fans sat together in a few rows of neon yellow.—
Patrick Iversen,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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The heels retail for $1,565 and come in gray, yellow, green, white, cream, red and more.—
Karla Rodriguez,
Footwear News,
24 Oct. 2025
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 29 Oct. 2025.
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