Dastard

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈdɑːstÉ™d/, /ˈdæstÉ™d/
• GenAm IPA: /ˈdæstÉšd/

Origin

From Middle English, most likely from Old Norse dæstr ("exhausted").

Full definition of dastard

Noun

1. A malicious coward; a dishonorable sneak.
• ShakespeareYou are all recreants and dastards, and delight to live in slavery to the nobility.

Adjective

1. meanly shrinking from danger, cowardly, dastardly
• 1843, Thomas_Carlyle, , book 3, ch. IV, HappyObserve, too, that this is all a modern affair; belongs not to the old heroic times, but to these dastard new times. ‘Happiness our being’s end and aim’ is at bottom, if we will count well, not yet two centuries old in the world.

Derived terms

• dastardly
• dastardness

Verb

1. To dastardize.