adj · noun · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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UK:/ˈdɑːstəd/
UK:/ˈdæstəd/
General-American:/ˈdæstɚd/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with (UK) -ɑːstəd
rhymes with (General American) -æstə(ɹ)d
1
adj
Meaning 1
Meanly shrinking from danger, cowardly, dastardly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book III, Canto One, Stanza 22, in The Faerie Queene, Books Three and Four, edited by Dorothy Stephens, Hackett, 2006, p. 13, Like dastard Curres, that having at a bay The salvage beast embost in wearie chace, Dare not adventure on the stubborne pray, Ne byte before, but rome from place to place, To get a snatch, when turned is his face.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A malicious coward; a dishonorable sneak.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To dastardize.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, being the Sequel of The Indian Queen, Act II, Scene 1, http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12166/pg12166-images.html Would my short life had yet a shorter date! / I'm weary of this flesh which holds us here, / And dastards manly souls with hope and fear; / These heats and colds still in our breast make war, / Agues and fevers all our passions are.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
a despicable coward
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: coward
History
Etymology
From Middle English dastard (“a dullard”), most likely formed from *dast, a base derived from Old Norse dæstr (“exhausted, breathless”) + -ard. Compare Icelandic dasaður (“exhausted”), dialectal Swedish däst (“weary”), Middle Dutch dasaert, daasaardt (“a fool”), English dazed (“stupefied”).
Across languages
Translations
6 source translations are retained for this English entry.
German:
hinterhältig
— meanly shrinking from danger, cowardly
German:
heimtückisch
— meanly shrinking from danger, cowardly
