dastardly
Someone who's dastardly is a scoundrel or a cowardly villain. A superhero might try to protect a city from a dastardly criminal mastermind.
Use the adjective dastardly to describe a person or action that's underhanded and mean. Criminals, pirates, and bullies are all frequently called dastardly. An unprovoked military strike is also sometimes described as dastardly, referencing President Franklin Roosevelt's famous 1941 speech after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which he called an "unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan." In the 1500s, dastardly meant "dull," from the now-obsolete dastard, "one who is lazy or dull."
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extremely wickedsynonyms: nefarious, villainouswickedmorally bad in principle or practice
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despicably cowardly
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Vocabulary lists containing dastardly
Rap artists are often maligned for their subject matter and dismissed for their use of profanity, as if curses are the only words rappers know. Here, inspired by Matt Daniels' compilation of data on the breadth of rappers vocabularies ( available here) we take another view and explore the rappers who use advanced vocabulary to get their points across. The words below range from medical terminology to biblical reference by way of Thomas Hobbes, so it may be time to really listen to what these rappers have to say.
Two men kidnap a rambunctious nine-year-old boy and attempt to hold him for ransom, but they get more than they bargained for. Read the full text here. Here are links to our lists for other works by O. Henry: A Retrieved Reformation, The Gift of the Magi
There are so many great words for awful things. Is it unpleasant, a little off, or unspeakably evil? Learn this list and use your vocabulary powers for good! For more synonym lists, explore our Say What You Mean resources.