cowardly

[ kou-erd-lee ]

adjective

1. lacking courage; contemptibly timid.

   Synonyms: chicken-hearted, lily-livered, white-livered, fainthearted, pusillanimous, dastardly, poltroon, craven, scared, afraid, fearful

   Antonyms: brave

2. characteristic of or befitting a coward; despicably mean, covert, or unprincipled:

   a cowardly attack on a weak, defenseless man.

adverb

1. like a coward.

cowardly

/ ˈkaʊədlɪ /

adjective

1. of or characteristic of a coward; lacking courage

Derived Forms

• ˈcowardliness, noun

Other Words From

• coward·li·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cowardly¹

First recorded in 1325–75 cowardly fordef 3, and in 1550–60 cowardly fordef 1; Middle English adverb couardli, couarli, couherdeli, is derivative of the adjective couard coward + -ly ( def )

Synonym Study

Cowardly, timid, timorous refer to a lack of courage or self-confidence. Cowardly means weakly or basely fearful in the presence of danger: The cowardly wretch deserted his comrades in battle. Timid means lacking in boldness or self-confidence even when there is no danger present: a timid person who stood in the way of his own advancement. Timorous suggests a timidity based on an exaggeration of dangers or on an imaginary creation of dangers: timorous as a mouse.

Example Sentences

Despite the cowardly efforts of House Republicans to quash the findings of an Ethics Committee investigation into alleged sex crimes by Gaetz, the details kept getting leaked at a rapid pace: Reports of drug-fueled sex parties.

From Salon

“I took the easy path, the cowardly path, instead of doing the right thing,” Wang said, per The Associated Press.

From Salon

There, Dorothy met characters like the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man who joined her on her quest to see the Wizard of Oz so she could return home.

From BBC

“He was supposed to be in this courtroom but was too cowardly to do so,” Bernstein’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, told the court in her victim impact statement.

From Los Angeles Times

Bert Lahr, the cowardly Lion from “The Wizard of Oz,” starred in the 1956 American premiere of “Waiting for Godot” directed by Alan Schneider at Coconut Grove Playhouse, of all places.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dastardly