craven
[krey-vuh n]
- cowardly; contemptibly timid; pusillanimous.
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- a coward.
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- to make cowardly.
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- cry craven, to yield; capitulate; give up.
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Origin of craven
1175–1225; Middle English cravant, cravaunde defeated < Old French craventé, past participle of cravanter to crush, overwhelm (< Vulgar Latin *crepantāre), influenced by Middle English creaunt defeated (see recreant)
Synonyms
See more synonyms for craven on Thesaurus.com1. dastardly, fearful, timorous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for craven
Contemporary Examples
It might be helpful, now, if a few of these craven Republicans had the stones to say it.
Maybe he could no longer bear the craven truth about himself.
Film stars and politicians are still bussed in to sell their products, in the most craven way possible.
And the President took Pelosi's way, not the highway of craven calculation.
Six miles from Craven Cottage, where Fulham play their home games, is the stadium where this soccer revolution began 10 years ago.
Historical Examples
And with the detective went a man whose gait was slinking, craven.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
Hobbs had seemed more of the craven type which Stryker graced so conspicuously.
The Black BagLouis Joseph Vance
"Craven Street, please," said the girl, and added a house number.
The Black BagLouis Joseph Vance
In his heart he was ashamed of his fears; in his heart he knew himself for a craven.
The Sea-HawkRaphael Sabatini
Swounds, but an empty stomach is a craven comrade in a desperate enterprise.
The Tavern KnightRafael Sabatini
craven
- cowardly; mean-spirited
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- a coward
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Word Origin
C13 cravant, probably from Old French crevant bursting, from crever to burst, die, from Latin crepāre to burst, crack
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
Word Origin and History for craven
adj.
early 13c., cravant, perhaps from Old French crevante "defeated," past participle of cravanter "to strike down, to fall down," from Latin crepare "to crack, creak." Sense affected by crave and moved from "defeated" to "cowardly" (c.1400) perhaps via intermediary sense of "confess oneself defeated." Related: Cravenly; cravenness.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper