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Cowardly

/ˈkaʊədli/

Showing cowardice; lacking in courage; weakly fearful.

Full Dictionary Entry

📖 Definitions of "Cowardly"

adjective

1
Showing cowardice; lacking in courage; weakly fearful.

adverb

1
In the manner of a coward, cowardlily.

🔄 Synonyms of "Cowardly"

20 synonyms found via WordNet and Google Books.

Word	Definition
timid	Lacking in courage or confidence.
cravennoun	Unwilling to fight; lacking even the rudiments of courage; extremely cowardly.
faintverb	(intransitive) To lose consciousness through a lack of oxygen or nutrients to the brain, usually as a result of suddenly reduced blood flow (may be caused by emotional trauma, loss of blood or various medical conditions).
lily-livered	(idiomatic) Cowardly, lacking courage.
fearful	Frightening; causing fear.
recreantnoun	(now poetic, literary) Unfaithful to someone, or to one's duties or honour; disloyal, false.
dastardly	In the manner of a dastard; marked by cowardice; pusillanimous.
caitiffnoun	A base or despicable person; a wretch.
fainthearted	Faint of heart; irresolute; fearful.
pusillanimous	Showing ignoble cowardice, or contemptible timidity.
chickennoun	(countable) A domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus).
white-livered	Lily-livered; cowardly.
poltroonnoun	Cowardly.
yellow-bellied	(figuratively, colloquial, idiomatic) Uncourageous, cowardly.
funky	(slang, UK, US) Cool; great; excellent.
unmanly	(of a person) Showing characteristics that are not manly, such as being immature, effeminate or cowardly, which might be construed as an indicator of weakness or of baseness of character.
poor-spirited	cowardly
chickenhearted	Alternative spelling of chicken-hearted. [Not brave; lacking courage; cowardly.]
cowardnoun	A person who lacks courage.
yellownoun	The color of sunflower petals and lemons; the color obtained by mixing green and red light, or by subtracting blue from white light; the color evoked by light of wavelength around 580 nm; one of the three primary colors in subtractive color systems.

↔️ Antonyms of "Cowardly"

Words with the opposite meaning.

Word	Definition
braveverb	Strong in the face of fear; courageous.
courageous	Of a person, displaying or possessing courage.
fearless	Without fear.

💡 Words with a Similar Meaning to "Cowardly"

Found via reverse dictionary — words that share a conceptual meaning.

Word	Definition
pusillanimous	Showing ignoble cowardice, or contemptible timidity.
white-livered	Lily-livered; cowardly.
lily-livered	(idiomatic) Cowardly, lacking courage.
cowardnoun	A person who lacks courage.
poor-spirited	cowardly
cravennoun	Unwilling to fight; lacking even the rudiments of courage; extremely cowardly.
poltroon	Cowardly.
dastardly	In the manner of a dastard; marked by cowardice; pusillanimous.
dastard	Meanly shrinking from danger, cowardly, dastardly.
caitiff	Especially despicable; cowardly
timid	Lacking in courage or confidence.
fainthearted	Faint of heart; irresolute; fearful.
chickenhearted	Alternative spelling of chicken-hearted. [Not brave; lacking courage; cowardly.]
faint	(of a being) Lacking strength; weak; languid; inclined to lose consciousness
fearful	Frightening; causing fear.
cringingnoun	Act of one who cringes.
funky	(slang, UK, US) Cool; great; excellent.
recreant	(now poetic, literary) Unfaithful to someone, or to one's duties or honour; disloyal, false.
unmanly	(of a person) Showing characteristics that are not manly, such as being immature, effeminate or cowardly, which might be construed as an indicator of weakness or of baseness of character.
yellownoun	The color of sunflower petals and lemons; the color obtained by mixing green and red light, or by subtracting blue from white light; the color evoked by light of wavelength around 580 nm; one of the three primary colors in subtractive color systems.