cowardly

[ kou-erd-lee ]
/ ˈkaʊ ərd li /

adjective

lacking courage; contemptibly timid.
characteristic of or befitting a coward; despicably mean, covert, or unprincipled: a cowardly attack on a weak, defenseless man.

adverb

like a coward.

Origin of cowardly

1275–1325; Middle English (adv.); see coward, -ly

synonym study for cowardly

1. Cowardly, timid, timorous refer to a lack of courage or self-confidence. Cowardly means weakly or basely fearful in the presence of danger: The cowardly wretch deserted his comrades in battle. Timid means lacking in boldness or self-confidence even when there is no danger present: a timid person who stood in the way of his own advancement. Timorous suggests a timidity based on an exaggeration of dangers or on an imaginary creation of dangers: timorous as a mouse.

OTHER WORDS FROM cowardly

cow·ard·li·ness, noun

Words nearby cowardly

Example sentences from the Web for cowardly

British Dictionary definitions for cowardly

cowardly
/ (ˈkaʊədlɪ) /

adjective

of or characteristic of a coward; lacking courage

Derived forms of cowardly

cowardliness, noun