dastardly
adjective /ˈdæstədli/
/ˈdæstərdli/
(old-fashioned)- evil and cruel
- a dastardly plot to assassinate the king
- My first part was Captain O'Hagarty, a dastardly villain in a children's play.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryDastardly is used with these nouns:- deed
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘dull or stupid’): from dastard in the obsolete sense ‘base coward’.