as in craven
a person who shows a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger
the soldiers who ran as soon as the first shots were fired were branded as cowards
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as in cowardly
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of coward
Louis Martinez, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026
According to the referee report, Bright used a racial slur that is slang for punk or coward.
—Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2026
James Arthur, The New York Review of Books, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for coward
Noun
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police president calling the mayor a coward doesn’t keep a single teenager off the street.
—Louis Martinez, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026
According to the referee report, Bright used a racial slur that is slang for punk or coward.
—Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2026
Adjective
Whoomp, whoomp bumped the coward heart.
—James Arthur, The New York Review of Books, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for coward
Recent Examples of Synonyms for coward
Noun
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In 2024, The Onion purchased Infowars, the conspiracy website born of the craven lunatic/Sandy Hook shooting denier Alex Jones.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Obi-Wan, the craven victor, revealing his true self.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The joke is on the cowardly villagers, and on Hoja himself, all of whom now have to live in a village terrorized by two war elephants instead of one.—
Perin Gürel,
The Conversation,
22 Apr. 2026
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Your writing is disgusting and your lack of confronting this team front office head on is an enormous act of cowardly proportions.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
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When Sarah’s eyes moved from the map to the paper piling up in my writing nook marked with the chicken scratchings of a madman, her eyebrows arched to the highest point eyebrows can arch.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 May 2026
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Occasionally, some nitwit will play chicken with the offending lane changer, get in front of him or her, and stop the car in the middle of the road to continue with verbal and nonverbal critique of the offender’s driving skills.—
Oc Register,
Oc Register,
18 May 2026
Adjective
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But this seems a lot more gutless than ruthless.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
20 May 2026
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The result leaves nearly every performer fumbling for traction in Serkis and Stoller’s muddy-yet-gutless cinematic sty.—
Alison Foreman,
IndieWire,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Some also have lost lawyers, dismayed by the pusillanimous behavior of their leaders.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2025
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The second believed the United States could attain comprehensive security through military-technological means and saw diplomacy as a quixotic or pusillanimous enterprise that dishonored and weakened the country.—
A. Wess Mitchell,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Coward.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/coward. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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