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
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
See All Example Sentences for dastardly
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
See All Example Sentences for dastardly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dastardly
Adjective
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Those who resort to violence to undermine our state and nation must be held accountable, and our state leaders must reinforce through decisive action that these cowardly attacks will not be tolerated.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2025
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The cowardly capitulation of Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps are negative examples to be learned from.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
29 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
While taking your room’s layout and square footage into account, don't be afraid to think outside the box: how can your sitting room function for you?—
Shivani Vyas,
Better Homes & Gardens,
22 Mar. 2025
-
Pay attention to your customers, listen closely, and don’t be afraid to test small, strategic changes.—
Melissa Houston,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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In the new showbiz comedy The Studio, Bryan Cranston has a recurring role as Griffin Mill, the craven movie executive played by Tim Robbins in the 1992 film The Player.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
25 Mar. 2025
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In any event Marshall, a craven idiot, is a raucous, vulgar sendup of the bedrock American principle of Manifest Destiny.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Most lawyers will be too scared of retaliation to even bring lawsuits challenging Trump’s actions.—
Ian Millhiser,
Vox,
29 Mar. 2025
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The pup, Butter, was filmed in September of last year looking scared and nervous around her new kitty sibling, keeping her distance from the feline and hiding away in her owner's arms, as if terrified of the new addition to the family.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The family is frightened, but the soldiers aren’t there to terrorize them.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
28 Mar. 2025
-
Financial markets have crashed, consumers are frightened, and deals are paralyzed.—
Paul Du Quenoy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Columbia University, through a thoroughly pusillanimous capitulation to a multi-million-dollar threat from the Trump administration, has put that conviction in the grave.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Mar. 2025
-
There was no fanfare — indeed no announcement or change in Oscar rules — but a firestorm of controversy resulted, followed by the Academy’s cowardly, pusillanimous silence on the issue.—
Armond White,
National Review,
5 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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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 6 Apr. 2025.
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