bastard

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈbɑːstərd/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈbæstɚd/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(bastərd)


WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
bas•tard /ˈbæstɚd/USA pronunciation   n. [countable]
  1. a person born of unmarried parents.
  2. Slang Terms
    • Offensive. a mean, cruel, hateful person:That bastard stole all my money.
    • Slang. a person, esp. a man:That poor bastard, losing his kids in the plane crash.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
bas•tard  (bastərd),USA pronunciation n. 
  1. a person born of unmarried parents;
    an illegitimate child.
  2. Slang Terms
    • a vicious, despicable, or thoroughly disliked person:Some bastard slashed the tires on my car.
    • a person, esp. a man:The poor bastard broke his leg.
  3. something irregular, inferior, spurious, or unusual.
  4. MilitarySee bastard culverin. 

adj. 
  1. illegitimate in birth.
  2. spurious;
    not genuine;
    false:The architecture was bastard Gothic.
  3. of abnormal or irregular shape or size;
    of unusual make or proportions:bastard quartz; bastard mahogany.
  4. having the appearance of;
    resembling in some degree:a bastard Michelangelo; bastard emeralds.
  5. Printing(of a character) not of the font in which it is used or found.
  • Gmc *bandstu-, a noun, nominal derivative of Indo-European *bhendh- bind; the traditional explanation of Old French bastard as derivative of fils de bast "child of a packsaddle'' is doubtful on chronological and geographical grounds
  • Gmc (Ingvaeonic) *bāst-, presumed variant of *bōst- marriage + Old French -ard -ard, taken as signifying the offspring of a polygynous marriage to a woman of lower status, a pagan tradition not sanctioned by the church; compare Old Frisian bost marriage
  • Anglo-French bastard, Medieval Latin bastardus (from 11th century), perh.
  • Middle English 1250–1300
    • 6.See corresponding entry in Unabridged fake, imitation, imperfect, sham, irregular, phony.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
bastard / ˈbɑːstəd ˈbæs-/
  1. an obnoxious or despicable person
  2. a person: lucky bastard
  3. something extremely difficult or unpleasant: that job is a real bastard
  4. a person born of unmarried parents; an illegitimate baby, child, or adult
  5. something irregular, abnormal, or inferior
  6. a hybrid, esp an accidental or inferior one
(prenominal)
  1. illegitimate by birth
  2. irregular, abnormal, or inferior in shape, size, or appearance
  3. resembling a specified thing, but not actually being such: a bastard cedar
  4. counterfeit; spurious
Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French bastart, perhaps from bast in the phrase fils de bast son of the packsaddle (that is, of an unlawful union and not the marriage bed), from Medieval Latin bastum packsaddle, of uncertain originˈbastardly
'bastard' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Collocations: offensive: is a [lazy, arrogant, heartless, greedy, cynical, dirty, cheap, rat, lucky, sick] bastard, dated: the bastard [son, child] of, offensive: you [lazy, complete] bastard!, more...

Forum discussions with the word(s) "bastard" in the title:


Look up "bastard" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "bastard" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!