Meaning & use
bastard child
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableoffensiveold-fashioned
A dated and offensive expression for a child whose parents were not married to each other when the child was born.
Grammar: Takes a/the and has a plural: a bastard child, two bastard children.
Patterns
- the bastard child of someone
- a bastard child by someone
In older history books, a king's bastard child was sometimes given land but no right to the throne.
The novel describes a village where a bastard child was shut out of school and church events.
Today people say a child born outside marriage, because bastard child is regarded as insulting.
nouncountablefigurativedisapproving
Something unwanted or poorly accepted that results from the mixing of two different things, such as styles or ideas.
Grammar: Used figuratively with of: the bastard child of two traditions.
Patterns
- the bastard child of something and something
The critic called the building the bastard child of Gothic and modern design.
Some fans saw the film as the bastard child of a comedy and a horror story.
Word forms
| plural | bastard children |
|---|
Common combinations
- a king's bastard child
- The chronicle names the king's bastard child as a leading soldier at court.
- raise a bastard child
- In the story, a widow secretly raises a bastard child in her cottage.
- acknowledge a bastard child
- The duke refused to acknowledge his bastard child in public.
- treated as a bastard child
- She wrote about being treated as a bastard child by her father's relatives.
- the bastard child of
- The party was described as the bastard child of two failed movements.
Synonyms and how they differ
- illegitimate child
- Illegitimate child is the older formal and legal phrase and sounds less harsh, though it is also now seen as outdated.
- love child
- Love child is informal and suggests the child came from a romantic affair, often a famous or secret one, rather than judging the child's status.
- child born outside marriage
- This is the neutral modern phrase used in law, statistics and polite speech, and it carries no insult.
Opposites
Word family
- bastard noun
- the single-word form, which today is mostly used as a strong insult for a person
- bastardy noun
- the old legal term for the condition of being born to unmarried parents
- bastardize verb
- to spoil or lower the quality of something by changing it
- illegitimate adjective
- born to unmarried parents; also, not allowed by law or rules
Commonly confused: bastard child or bastard?
bastard child vs bastard
Bastard on its own is now usually a rude insult for an unpleasant man, so it should not be used as a neutral word for a child's family status.
Practice
Which phrase is the most appropriate and neutral choice in a modern news report about a child whose parents were unmarried?
Choose one answer.
A child born outside marriage is neutral and current. Bastard child is offensive, love child is informal and suggests a romantic affair, and base-born child is archaic.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bastard child”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.