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

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

Related forms

cowardliness, noun

Synonyms

1. craven, poltroon, dastardly, pusillanimous, fainthearted, white-livered, lily-livered, chicken-hearted, fearful, afraid, scared. 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.

Antonyms

1. brave.

Examples from the web for cowardly

It had stopped, the cowardly shooters looking for their quarry in the bushes below.
Too bad the government is too cowardly to prosecute the guilty millionaires, clerics and corporations.
Even now as it is coming out that he may have expired due to a seizure, they are too cowardly to connect the dots.
What a cowardly belief to wager gods existence and your own eternal salvation based upon mathematical reasoning.
Getting a doctorate was the easy, rather cowardly way out for me, and that's the truth.
Your cowardly anonymity blights your comment further.
In other words, anonymity is more calming and less risky-or even more cowardly-than named criticism.
Being immoral and cowardly does not mean one cannot be a great philosopher.
So it may certainly be rational, rather than cowardly to choose to not interview.
It is anonymous political aids and writers, who now cowardly refuse to own their words.

British Dictionary definitions for cowardly

cowardly

/ˈkaʊədlɪ/

adjective

of or characteristic of a coward; lacking courage

Derived Forms

cowardliness, noun

Word Origin and History for cowardly

adj.

1550s, from coward + -ly (1). The adverb (late 14c.) is much older than the adjective:

Yit had I levir do what I may Than here to dye thus cowerdelye ["Le Morte d'Arthur," c.1450]

An Old English word for "cowardly" was earg, which also meant "slothful." Related: Cowardliness.