cowardly
adjective
Simple meaning
Lacking in courage.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kowerdleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkaʊɚdli
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Showing cowardice; lacking in courage; weakly fearful.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Word Aura is being prepared for this meaning.
More ways to use cowardly
- “Cowardly dogs, ye will not aid me then"- P.B.Shelley.”adjective
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Lacking in courage or confidence.
Cowardly, lacking courage.
Showing ignoble cowardice, or contemptible timidity.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A person who shows fear or timidity.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “cowardly” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.