bastard

American  

[bas-terd] / ˈbæs tərd /

noun

• bastards
  plural

1. a person born of unmarried parents; an illegitimate child.

2. Slang.

   1. a vicious, despicable, or thoroughly disliked person.

      Some bastard slashed the tires on my car.

   2. a person, especially a man.

      The poor bastard broke his leg.

3. something irregular, inferior, spurious, or unusual.

4. bastard culverin.

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adjective

1. illegitimate in birth.

2. spurious; not genuine; false.

   The architecture was bastard Gothic.

   Synonyms:

   phony, irregular, sham, imperfect, imitation, fake

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.

bastard British  

/ ˈbæs-, ˈbɑːstəd /

noun

1. informal an obnoxious or despicable person

2. informal a person, esp a man

   lucky bastard

3. informal something extremely difficult or unpleasant

   that job is a real bastard

4. old-fashioned 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

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adjective

1. old-fashioned 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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bastardly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bastards
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bastard

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French bastard, from Medieval Latin bastardus, perhaps ultimately from Germanic bāst-, bōst- (unrecorded) “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,” see also 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

Explanation

Bastard used to be a not nice thing you called a child whose parents weren't married. But now it's a more general insult hurled toward a jerk or bad person. Bastard can also simply mean "fraudulent." This is a great example of how words change in meaning over time. Today, if you were called a bastard, it probably has nothing to do with whether or not your parents are married: it just means someone doesn't like you (unless they call you a magnificent bastard, which is a compliment). Bastard can also mean phony or fake, like a bastard version of French that is not correct. When you think bastard, think illegitimate.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bastard bastards

But Steve Toussaint and Abubakar Salim, who play Lord Corlys Velaryon and his bastard son Alyn of Hull, suggest that in hindsight, we may look upon the first two seasons a bit more kindly.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

MMA is the bastard child of illegal street fights and martial arts, which has always made for a strange blend of freak-show sleaze and a culture of respect.

From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026

Leonardo da Vinci—whose very name indicates he’s from a place, rather than of a person—was one such bastard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025

He reacts with the defiance of a man whose football-playing friend recently described him as a "hard bastard".

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025

“Let’s get this poor bastard to the clinic fast,” Granny said.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Filmmakers, now those poor bastards need rich patrons.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

Beforehand, Salfordian frontman Shaun Ryder told BBC News it was "brilliant that those lazy bastards from London have decided to get off their bums and come up north for an hour or two".

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

The Renaissance, Jacob Burckhardt once wrote, was a golden age for bastards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025

"And we will rebuild. No matter what these Russian terrorists and bastards may do, we will rebuild and restore everything," he said.

From Reuters ● Feb. 23, 2023

There were Lucky Strikes and there were Sloths; there were Jackson Boys and there were lucky bastards like him.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi