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

Other Word Forms

• cowardliness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cowardly¹

First recorded in 1325–75 cowardly for def. 3, and in 1550–60 cowardly for def. 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

A fire at a London hotel housing asylum seekers is being treated as a hate crime and has been condemned as a "despicable and cowardly attack".

From BBC

Maher referred to “Politically Incorrect,” his late-night show that was canceled by ABC in 2002 after advertisers pulled out following a comment by the host about the Sept. 11 hijackers, saying they were “not cowardly.”

From Los Angeles Times

Gomez also was sharply critical of Disney, calling out what she called as “cowardly corporate capitulation.”

From Los Angeles Times

"It is disgusting, and I don't understand why Britain has to be so cowardly," he added.

From BBC

The AFP news agency also cited local media outlet Elmaestro TV as reporting a "gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification".

From BBC

Related Words

• dastardly