cowardly
pronunciation
How to pronounce cowardly in British English:
UK ['kaʊədlɪ]
How to pronounce cowardly in American English:
US [ˈkaʊədli]
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- Adjective:
- lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted
Word Origin
- 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.
Antonym
Example
- 1. Becoming obsessed with efficiency can make us cowardly .
- 2. So we enter a cowardly new world .
- 3. Eg. I 'm cowardly about things that remind me of myself .
- 4. In his stories , there is a certain species of alien that is profoundly cowardly and tries to reduce the danger of its environment .
- 5. This is both masochistic and cowardly .