How to Use dastardly in a Sentence

dastardly

adjective
  • Lydia’s ruffly red wedding dress from the original reappears on her in the sequel, as she’s once again coerced into marrying Keaton’s dastardly demon.
    Jack Smart, Peoplemag, 7 Sep. 2024
  • Part of the fun of it, in a way, is trying to find the fallacy or the hole in the dastardly scheme.
    Dallas News, 13 July 2021
  • But give the nod to Blade, the 2-foot-tall dude with the hook for a left hand, knife for the right and a dastardly, chalky visage.
    Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 8 Aug. 2017
  • And the dastardly Democrats who don’t want to give Trump credit.
    Chris Cillizza, CNN, 26 July 2021
  • Jim Boeheim and that dastardly zone did it again (a la 2016 as a No.
    Shannon Ryan, chicagotribune.com, 19 Mar. 2018
  • Never fear, some dastardly hiccups along the road have not changed the heart of this show.
    Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2023
  • The mayor’s reprise of the song at the end of the first act, meant to justify the dastardly, is anything but funny.
    Lisa Kennedy, The Know, 17 Sep. 2019
  • But in the morning, that dastardly alarm clock wakes you from a stoned slumber and something just isn’t right.
    Mike Adams, chicagotribune.com, 22 Aug. 2019
  • Of all the dastardly things Caligula was known for, his pleasure barges were the most infamous.
    Michael S. Rosenwald, Washington Post, 20 Oct. 2017
  • With that, the dastardly Astros clinched the American League pennant in six games.
    BostonGlobe.com, 24 Oct. 2021
  • The villain devises his dastardly plan while standing among the rubble left by a fight that happened in The Avengers.
    Eliana Dockterman, Time, 8 July 2017
  • Because even their dastardly henchmen are freaked out by their evil acts.
    Ashley Hoffman, Time, 15 Dec. 2017
  • And female thieves have a dastardly tactic to thwart their pursuers.
    The Economist, 5 Sep. 2019
  • The plot revolves around a retired police chief who sets out to catch a dastardly thief—with the help of two lesser criminals.
    Ineye Komonibo, Marie Claire, 5 Oct. 2020
  • Rudd lets his sparkly eyes go dark behind his big ‘80s glasses when a dastardly plot is afoot.
    San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Nov. 2021
  • No, a dastardly plot was not at play, according to the theorists.
    Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017
  • The easiest way to ignite a red hot feud between the two is for Knight, a dastardly heel, to eliminate Paul from the men’s Chamber match.
    Blake Oestriecher, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
  • But what Manuela doesn't know is that her fiancé is the real dastardly pirate, long retired.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 10 June 2022
  • The new pro-Biden talking point is that those dastardly Republicans are trying to have it both ways.
    Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 9 Mar. 2022
  • Okay, kidding aside, once Teddy reveals his dastardly plan Alicia takes his gun and points it at him.
    Erik Kain, Forbes, 24 May 2021
  • Aemon One Eye is a dastardly character, replete with an evil smirk and eye patch.
    Lorraine Ali, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2022
  • And yes, that would-be love story gets caught up in a dastardly murder plot that threatens England’s very sovereignty.
    John Ortved, Vogue, 14 June 2024
  • Among them, there must be a car, a woman (more than one, in fact), a gadget, an exotic location and a dastardly plan.
    CNN, 20 Sep. 2021
  • This is a movie about cricket, but while the rules of the game may be obscure to some viewers, the stakes are crystal clear: In 1893, a team of plucky Indian farmers face off against the dastardly Brits.
    Alison Willmore, Vulture, 22 Feb. 2021
  • These two dastardly words should melt the headset on Pat Fitzgerald's noggin: Illinois State.
    Teddy Greenstein, chicagotribune.com, 1 Sep. 2017
  • By Barry Meier If not for the dastardly backstory, this could have been a tale of marketing genius.
    Sarah Mupo, STAT, 25 June 2018
  • Koch has an appealing singing voice and the right demeanor to make the audience root for his character, despite the dastardly deeds.
    Matthew J. Palm, orlandosentinel.com, 19 Oct. 2019
  • The millions of Spanglish-speaking Minions, who were once Dru's dastardly-deed doers, are now just kind of goofy servants.
    Laura Demarco, cleveland.com, 28 June 2017
  • In the moment, the 9/11 attacks that came from a blue sky on a crisp, clear morning stretched credulity in their horror and dastardly conception and proved that vast oceans could no longer shield the US from the terror of the outside world.
    Stephen Collinson, CNN, 11 Sep. 2021
  • One question that’s highlighted by having Don Juan be so dastardly and Sganarelle so dutiful: Why does the servant stick around?
    Christopher Arnott, courant.com, 12 Nov. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dastardly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: