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

Along the way, Glenn and Rachel’s teen daughter Abby, away at school, gets pulled into the fray, ultimately becoming an invaluable part of the effort to save Rachel and stop the criminals from a truly dastardly deed. —John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 25 Jan. 2025

Of all the films vying for honors in this year’s awards season, only one heralds the return of not just one of cinema’s most iconic duos, but one of its most dastardly villains. —Alex Ritman, Variety, 9 Jan. 2025

For starters, Rate-A-Queen is back — no surprise after the success of the dastardly Plane Jane versus the hero Nymphia Wind. —Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 3 Jan. 2025

There is a chance too that an outsider broke into the internals of AI and made dastardly changes. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1542, in the meaning defined at sense 1