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cowardly

[ kou-erd-lee ]
/ ˈkaʊ ərd li /
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See synonyms for: cowardly / cowardliness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
lacking courage; contemptibly timid.
characteristic of or befitting a coward; despicably mean, covert, or unprincipled: a cowardly attack on a weak, defenseless man.
adverb
like a coward.
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Origin of cowardly

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

synonym study for cowardly

1. 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.

OTHER WORDS FROM cowardly

cow·ard·li·ness, noun

Words nearby cowardly

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cowardly in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cowardly

cowardly
/ (ˈkaʊədlɪ) /

adjective
of or characteristic of a coward; lacking courage

Derived forms of cowardly

cowardliness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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