bastard

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Ironically, the situation now is a bastard version of one reform favored by free market types: paying athletes without any pretense that they are real students.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 24, 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

Overcompensating for Tom's bastard status, she is overly warm to him and consistently neglects Blifil, which has caused him to grow up jealous and bitter.

From Salon • May 22, 2023

“The celebrity profile is the bastard stepchild of journalism, and I’m embarrassed sometimes to be associated with it,” he told Chicago magazine in 1996.

From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2023

Archaic; from Shres, the bastard god of fortune, who was believed to punish supplicants for inadequate offerings by granting their hearts’ desire to another.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor