cowardly
lacking courage; contemptibly timid.
characteristic of or befitting a coward; despicably mean, covert, or unprincipled: a cowardly attack on a weak, defenseless man.
like a coward.
Origin of cowardly
1synonym study For cowardly
Other words for cowardly
Opposites for cowardly
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. 2024
How to use cowardly in a sentence
“It was cowardly, the way Chris and Guy went about this,” Ioffe said.
Facebook Prince Purges The New Republic: Inside the Destruction of a 100-Year-Old Magazine | Lloyd Grove | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFor them, the cowardly cynicism of the status quo will do just fine.
According to the historian John Saunders, he was a “weak, vain, incompetent and cowardly” leader.
In Threatening Baghdad, Militants Seek to Undo 800 Years of History | Justin Marozzi | August 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTrying to put the onus onto someone else for your own decisions is really cowardly and kind of dishonest.
Speed Read: Terry Richardson on Sex, Lies, and Lindsay Lohan | Justin Jones | June 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNothing could be more cowardly than to gun down three unarmed innocents, including a 14-year-old boy.
The Killer Klansman’s Missing Years as a Federal Informant | Michael Daly | April 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
If it were not for the cowardly fear of being thought timid, there would be more care used in such matters.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyBut when he saw there were but two of them he mentally cursed the four escorts who had so cowardly left him to his fate.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnIsn't this free-booting spirit, now, better than leading a cowardly life of musty regularity?
The Battle of Hexham; | George ColmanNone would have believed that the cowardly monster Fear was for ever feasting upon his heart.
Elster's Folly | Mrs. Henry WoodBut, there is a beardless youth, follow'd by a cowardly serving man, who presses hard to see you.
The Battle of Hexham; | George Colman
British Dictionary definitions for cowardly
/ (ˈkaʊədlɪ) /
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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