cowardly
Americanadjective
-
lacking courage; contemptibly timid.
- Synonyms:
- chicken-hearted, lily-livered, white-livered, fainthearted, pusillanimous, dastardly, poltroon, craven, scared, afraid, fearful
- Antonyms:
- brave
-
characteristic of or befitting a coward; despicably mean, covert, or unprincipled.
a cowardly attack on a weak, defenseless man.
adverb
adjective
Synonym Usage
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 Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cowardly
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. )
Explanation
Someone who is acting cowardly is showing no courage. A politician who is afraid to tell the truth about his shadowy past can be described as cowardly. Use the adjective cowardly to talk about a person whose knees knock together with fear, especially when he or she is afraid of doing the right thing. A famous example of a cowardly character is the Cowardly Lion from "The Wizard of Oz," who pretended to be ferocious but was actually lacking bravery.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It wasn’t a cowardly Congress that killed the measure.
From MarketWatch • May 13, 2026
But once war arrives, it’s futile and cowardly to try to stand apart from it on the pretext that you’re not responsible for it.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
"Once again, the nebulous Boko Haram terrorist group carried out a cowardly attack last night on our military base at Barka Tolorom," Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said on Tuesday in a Facebook post.
From Barron's • May 5, 2026
When Paul and Gaz confront Dee, Taylor’s response is so cowardly that it’s pathetic, suggesting a spinelessness that bedeviled him long before he wound up in jail.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026
“Lio”—and she mentioned the name distinctly without a cowardly lowering of her voice— “is just a friend. And no, he hasn’t invited me to leave with him, nor would I go.”
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
