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Glite Dictionary
😒 Worthless or bad 👶 Illegitimate birth
bastardly

bastardly

9.9
Born to parents who are not married to each other
  • adjective
  • /ˈbæstərdli/
  • Offensive
translation icon : bastardo
  • Many bastardly children faced discrimination in medieval society.

Examples

  • The king refused to acknowledge his bastardly heirs as legitimate successors.

  • He was labeled a bastardly child in the village.

  • In historical records, a bastardly birth could affect inheritance rights.

  • Being called bastardly can be quite damaging for a child.

  • In historical records, a bastardly birth could affect inheritance rights.

  • Many bastardly children faced discrimination in medieval society.

  • The king refused to acknowledge his bastardly heirs as legitimate successors.

Synonyms

illegitimate
vsbastardly
  • Formal
39 6.1

A child or marriage not recognized by law because the parents were not married

is the general word for being born to unmarried parents
misbegotten
vsbastardly
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A child born to parents who are not married

is the modern term used instead in ordinary speech
baseborn
vsbastardly
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who is born into a low social class and not into a noble family

focuses only on birth to unmarried parents, not social status
misbegot
vsbastardly
  • Offensive
9.9

A child born to parents who are not married

is the modern equivalent used in present language
spurious
vsbastardly
  • Offensive
9.9

Born to parents who are not married

is the neutral modern term for the same birth circumstance

Antonyms

to legitimate
  • Formal
1 7.7

To make a child born outside marriage legally recognized

Compounds

bastardly gullion
  • Offensive
9.9

A mean, dishonest person who takes more than they should

Surface Forms

bastardly positive

Morphology

bastardly = bastard (transparent) = bastard + ly

Standard adjectival formation from the noun 'bastard' yielding 'of or relating to a bastard (illegitimate)'; the meaning here is literal and directly predictable from the base.

Etymology

Bastardly comes from the old word bastard, which comes from bast meaning 'pack-saddle'. One popular story says this name was used for children born while a father was away on a journey, so bastardly came to mean a child born to parents not married to each other.