coward
- a person who lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; a timid or easily intimidated person.
- lacking courage; very fearful or timid.
- proceeding from or expressive of fear or timidity: a coward cry.
Origin of coward
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comCoward
- Noel,1899–1973, English playwright, author, actor, and composer.
Examples from the Web for coward
Contemporary Examples
Hill advised him not to, saying that if he did so, the cadets would regard him as a coward.
And cancer, deceiver, pretender, coward; it cannot even subsist without the vibrant people it depends on.
Or he could have been a coward, lashing out at me for some online slight.
He was ultimately a coward, and he took no pleasure in his victims fighting back.
Rather, he was “a coward” who would pick fights only “when he knew he was well covered by the busboys.”
Historical Examples
At any rate, I won't be coward enough to try to hide it from her.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
If the first thing happened, you'd have been a coward the rest of your life.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
The coward would not have the courage to contradict her, but he would know if he were lying!
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
"Because I was a coward," answered Corney, speaking the truth with courage.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
And yet it was a coward's blow, and one to stir the blood and loose the tongue of the most peaceful.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
coward
- a person who shrinks from or avoids danger, pain, or difficulty
Word Origin
Coward
- Sir Noël (Pierce). 1899–1973, English dramatist, actor, and composer, noted for his sophisticated comedies, which include Private Lives (1930) and Blithe Spirit (1941)
Word Origin and History for coward
n.
mid-13c., from Old French coart "coward" (no longer the usual word in French, which has now in this sense poltron, from Italian, and lâche), from coe "tail," from Latin coda, popular dialect variant of cauda "tail," of uncertain origin + -ard, an agent noun suffix denoting one that carries on some action or possesses some quality, with derogatory connotation (see -ard).
The word probably reflects an animal metaphoric sense still found in expressions like turning tail and tail between legs. Coart was the name of the hare in Old French versions of "Reynard the Fox." Italian codardo, Spanish cobarde are from French.
The identification of coward & bully has gone so far in the popular consciousness that persons & acts in which no trace of fear is to be found are often called coward(ly) merely because advantage has been taken of superior strength or position .... [Fowler]
As a surname (attested from 1255) it represents Old English cuhyrde "cow-herd." Farmer has coward's castle "a pulpit," "Because a clergyman may deliver himself therefrom without fear of contradiction or argument."