bastard

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

An offensive word for a very unpleasant person.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

basterd

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈbæstɚd

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

A mongrel (biological cross between different breeds, groups or varieties).
A variation that is not genuine; something irregular or inferior or of dubious origin, fake or counterfeit.
A sword that is midway in length between a short-sword and a long sword; also bastard sword.
An inferior quality of soft brown sugar, obtained from syrups that have been boiled several times.
A large mould for straining sugar.
A writing paper of a particular size.

adjective

Spurious, lacking authenticity: counterfeit, fake.
Of abnormal, irregular or otherwise inferior qualities (size, shape etc).
Of or like a mongrel, bastardized creature/cross.
of a language
Imperfect; not spoken or written well or in the classical style; broken.
Of or like a bastard (illegitimate human descendant).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency: Moderately Common
Typical Use: Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A mongrel (biological cross between different breeds, groups or varieties).

Used this way, bastard is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Specialist/technical
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Specialized
Connotation: Clinical and technical
Usage feel: Technical and specialized

Where it naturally appears

Science
Academic writing
Technical/specialist writing

Usage note

In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use bastard

“The architecture was a kind of bastard suggesting Gothic but not true Gothic.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

bastard sonpoor bastardbastard childblack bastardstupid bastardbastard brothersome bastardcrazy bastard

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

bastard lignum vitaenounCompound term
Small evergreen tree of the southern United States and West Indies a source of lignum vitae wood.
bastard pennyroyalnounCompound term
Aromatic plant of the eastern United States.
bastard pimpernelnounCompound term
Weedy plant having short dry chafflike leaves.
bastard ridleynounCompound term
Grey sea turtle of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America.
bastard titlenounCompound term
A first page of some books displaying only the title of the book.
bastard toadflaxnounCompound term
Woody creeping parasite of western North America having numerous thick powdery leaves and panicles of small dull-white flowers.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.