Meanings
comparative dastardlier · superlative dastardliest
- In the manner of a dastard; marked by cowardice; pusillanimous.
I ask that the Congress declare, that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
1941 December 8, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 6:42 from the start, in Day of Infamy Speech, Washington, D.C.Synonyms: gutless, nithing, spineless, backboneless, base, soft, bitch-ass, boneless
- Treacherous; given to backstabbing.
Synonyms: Judaslike, ratlike, viperous, booky, disleal, disloyal, double-crossing, double-dealing
- In a cowardly or treacherous fashion.
Synonyms: Judasly, ratlike, traitorwise, disloyally, false, falsely, Judasly, perfidiously
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveIn the manner of a dastard; marked by cowardice; pusillanimous.
adjectiveTreacherous; given to backstabbing.
adverbIn a cowardly or treacherous fashion.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishdastard
- Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
- Proto-Germanic*līką
- Englishdastardly
Translations
Spanish ruin
- ruinTranslations
Cite this entry
dastardly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dastardly
“dastardly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dastardly. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dastardly,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dastardly.
Source: dastardly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.