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recreant

[ rek-ree-uhnt ]
/ ˈrɛk ri ənt /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR recreant ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

cowardly or craven.
unfaithful, disloyal, or traitorous.

noun

a coward.
an apostate, traitor, or renegade.

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a person given to voluble, empty talk.
an ancient Greek or Roman farce that depended for effect largely upon ludicrous actions and gestures.
a check whose amount has been raised by forgery before cashing.
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Origin of recreant

1300–50; Middle English <Old French, adj. and noun use of present participle of recreire to yield in a contest, equivalent to re-re- + creire<Latin crēdere to believe

OTHER WORDS FROM recreant

rec·re·ance, rec·re·an·cy, nounrec·re·ant·ly, adverbun·rec·re·ant, adjective

Words nearby recreant

recovered memory, recovery, recovery room, recovery stock, recpt, recreant, recreate, recreation, recreational, recreational drug, recreationalist
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to recreant

craven, yellow, yielding, base, low, timid, apostate, skulking, afraid, arrant, dastardly, disloyal, faithless, fearful, frightened, gutless, hesitant, mean-spirited, perfidious, scared

Example sentences from the Web for recreant

British Dictionary definitions for recreant

recreant
/ (ˈrɛkrɪənt) archaic /

adjective

cowardly; faint-hearted
disloyal

noun

a disloyal or cowardly person

Derived forms of recreant

recreance or recreancy, nounrecreantly, adverb

Word Origin for recreant

C14: from Old French, from recroire to surrender, from re- + Latin crēdere to believe; compare miscreant
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