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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And unlike the cowardly ambiguity and doubletalk toward Iran and its nuclear program in the past by Barack Obama, John Kerry, Joe Biden and Antony Blinken, Trump was clear as a bell.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
4 July 2025
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Those cowardly films ignore the ideological confusion and moral bankruptcy that precede political and creative failure.—
Armond White,
National Review,
4 July 2025
Adjective
-
The premise is that America is caught in a bind between a political left that’s too afraid of growth and a political right that hates government investment and involvement.—
Scott Peters,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 July 2025
-
The revelation helps explain why the giant snakes — which can grow to 18 feet in Florida — are not afraid to swallow creatures that are nearly equal in size, experts say.—
Mark Price
July 11,
Miami Herald,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
While health care and food assistance command the most attention, the craven assault on clean energy cannot be minimized.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
3 July 2025
-
The craven hypocrisy of all this no longer registers for the right.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
27 June 2025
Adjective
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There’s people that are getting into trouble because the powers that be are scared, too.—
Mario Koran,
jsonline.com,
12 July 2025
-
Most notable in the repeat of Man of Steel elements and themes, there’s the Kryptonian message threatening earth, which makes the public scared, so Superman turns himself in to government authorities.—
Mark Hughes,
Forbes.com,
12 July 2025
Adjective
-
Audience noises at the NRG Stadium in Houston went from frightened gasps to applause as the descent was completed.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
29 June 2025
-
Things were hectic in the mall, Stain, 45, said, with lots of frightened people running to the exits.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
28 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
-
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 18 Jul. 2025.
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