recreant

[ rek-ree-uhnt ]
See synonyms for: recreantrecreants on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. cowardly or craven.

  2. unfaithful, disloyal, or traitorous.

noun
  1. a coward.

  2. an apostate, traitor, or renegade.

Origin of recreant

1
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 for recreant

Opposites for recreant

Other words from recreant

  • rec·re·ance, rec·re·an·cy, noun
  • rec·re·ant·ly, adverb
  • un·rec·re·ant, adjective

Words Nearby recreant

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use recreant in a sentence

  • I had rather prove recreant to the oath I took before I realized the worth of the woman whose happiness I vowed to destroy.

    The Circular Study | Anna Katharine Green
  • While thus employed there came almost bursting into the room a man struck with remorse—Jefferies, the recreant postmaster.

  • It was possible that, when nothing more was to be gained by falsehoods, his recreant friend would clear his fame once for all.

    Sir Walter Ralegh | William Stebbing
  • Not for a moment did the Doctor believe that his recreant son pondered wisely and deeply these successive epistles of his.

  • Thus far had my conscience written with my pen; and see what a recreant she had made of me!

    Clarissa, Volume 6 (of 9) | Samuel Richardson

British Dictionary definitions for recreant

recreant

/ (ˈrɛkrɪənt) archaic /


adjective
  1. cowardly; faint-hearted

  2. disloyal

noun
  1. a disloyal or cowardly person

Origin of recreant

1
C14: from Old French, from recroire to surrender, from re- + Latin crēdere to believe; compare miscreant

Derived forms of recreant

  • recreance or recreancy, noun
  • recreantly, adverb

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