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• coward
  coward

  noun

  a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.
• Coward
  Coward

  noun

  Noel, 1899–1973, English playwright, author, actor, and composer.

coward

¹ American  

[kau-erd] / ˈkaʊ ərd /

noun

• cowards
  plural

1. a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.

   Synonyms:

   milksop, recreant, dastard, poltroon, craven

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adjective

1. lacking courage; very fearful or timid.

2. proceeding from or expressive of fear or timidity.

   a coward cry.

Coward ² American  

[kau-erd] / ˈkaʊ ərd /

noun

1. Noel, 1899–1973, English playwright, author, actor, and composer.

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Coward ¹ British  

/ ˈkaʊəd /

noun

1. Sir Noël ( Pierce ). 1899–1973, English dramatist, actor, and composer, noted for his sophisticated comedies, which include Private Lives (1930) and Blithe Spirit (1941)

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coward ² British  

/ ˈkaʊəd /

noun

1. a person who shrinks from or avoids danger, pain, or difficulty

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cowards
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of coward

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English, from Old French couard-, couart “cowardly,” from coue “tail” (from Latin cauda, cōda ) + -art -ard

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Explanation

A coward is someone who’s afraid of doing something daring or dangerous. Skydiving might sound exciting in theory, but you might be a coward when it comes to actually jumping out of a plane. Which is probably wise. Coward comes from the Latin word couda, meaning “tail.” Have you ever seen a scared puppy with its tail between its legs? That’s what people who are cowards would be doing if they had tails. Being afraid of something dangerous might make someone a coward, but the word can also describe someone who avoids doing something difficult or unpleasant. If your boss makes his assistant deliver the unpleasant news about layoffs, you might call him a coward.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coward Coward cowards

Sorkin’s depiction of Zuckerberg as a sniveling coward might be smug, but it’s not inaccurate.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

You can be a hero or a coward.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

In Jefferson’s mind Henry was a lazy lightweight, Hamilton a monarchist and a coward, Burr an insurrectionist and Marshall an implacable foe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

“We wanted everyone to see what a complete and utter coward he is once you remove his powers, pretty much like every autocrat and strongman,” Kripke says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026

Unless, of course, the strong old man rebuilding the Wallace house was the handsome young coward who had left nearly fifty years before.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

Nyuk, nyuk, as Noël Coward used to say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Coward has undergone a reassessment since he fell out of favor after his prime.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

It's more unusual for a US actress to play the part, but Coward actually based the character on an American he'd met at a dinner party in 1921.

From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026

News of a special dinner guest, superstar playwright Noël Coward, transforms Daisy into an Iron Chef: “Well, tonight he’s getting Coquilles Saint-Jacques and Gressingham Duck, and he better like it.”

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2025

“Hold up. Coward? That’s how he wrote me?”

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

"These cowards can do absolutely nothing to us."

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

"What we know is there was some type of argument between two cowards," Worley said.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Instead, like cowards, they cast around for weaker parties to victimize.

From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026

Decades ago, people who buckled their seat belts were thought to be signaling that they were cowards, afraid of getting in a crash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2025

“Some will. Not all. We have our cowards and our knaves, our weaklings and our fools, as do they.”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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