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blackguardly

blackguardly

9.9
Being cruel and dishonest in a way that hurts other people
  • adjective
  • /ˈblæɡˌɡɑrdli/
  • Offensive
translation icon : canalla
  • She refused to associate with anyone who acted in such a blackguardly manner.

Examples

  • His blackguardly actions shocked everyone at the meeting.

  • The judge denounced the defendant's blackguardly conduct in his closing remarks.

  • The newspaper condemned the politician's blackguardly behavior during the scandal.

  • She was appalled by his blackguardly behavior during the charity event.

  • His blackguardly behavior shocked everyone at the event when he cheated his friends out of their money.

  • She was appalled by his blackguardly comments about their colleague's work ethic.

  • The blackguardly act of abandoning his family for personal gain left a stain on his character.

Synonyms

rascally
vsblackguardly
  • Informal
1 7.0

Dishonest and likely to trick people for money or advantage

is stronger, meaning seriously dishonorable rather than merely playful
blackhearted
vsblackguardly
  • Offensive
1 8.6

Cruel and without pity to others

focuses on dishonorable actions rather than deep cruelty or evil nature
scoundrelly
vsblackguardly
  • Offensive
9.1

Dishonest and cruel in ways that hurt others

is a broad term for dishonorable or unprincipled conduct

Antonyms

39 3.8

A person or group that shows strong ideas about right and wrong and acts on them

35 4.3

Being morally good and doing what is right

How Dishonorable

blackguardly
  • Offensive
9.9
despicable
  • Offensive
95 5.7
dishonorable
  • US
23 6.0
unprincipled
  • Offensive
8 6.6
shady
  • Informal
79 5.5
questionable
176 3.9

Surface Forms

blackguardly positive

Morphology

blackguardly = blackguard (transparent) = blackguard + ly

The adjective is formed by adding the productive suffix '-ly' to the noun 'blackguard', yielding the straightforward meaning 'characteristic of a blackguard'.

Etymology

The word blackguardly comes from the older word blackguard, made of black and guard, which originally named servants whose clothes were black with soot from kitchen work. One popular story says this made blackguard mean a low or shameful person, a 'scoundrel', so blackguardly now describes someone who behaves dishonorably.