as in coward
a person who shows a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger
a staunch hawk during the drumbeat for war, he proved to be a chicken when it came to actually fighting it
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in yellow
having or showing a shameful lack of courage
too chicken to go through with the stunt
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
just concentrate on the important duties of the job and forget about the chicken stuff
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of chicken
Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Oct. 2025
At River Roots, Paul takes those fist-sized biscuits and uses them to sandwich tender smoked chicken thighs from Parts & Labor catering and tangy, peppery Alabama white sauce.
—Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer, 10 Oct. 2025
The chain, known for its Southern chicken and biscuits, was founded in 1977 and has more than 800 restaurants across the U.S. and a location in Honduras, according to its website.
—Chase Jordan
october 2, Charlotte Observer, 2 Oct. 2025
The Southern chain — selling biscuits, sweet tea, chicken sandwiches and more — has roughly 800 locations in 17 states, according to its website.
—Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chicken
Noun
Megan couldn't choke down a single sip of the chicken smoothie and almost puked in the sink after trying it.
—Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Oct. 2025
At River Roots, Paul takes those fist-sized biscuits and uses them to sandwich tender smoked chicken thighs from Parts & Labor catering and tangy, peppery Alabama white sauce.
—Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer, 10 Oct. 2025
The chain, known for its Southern chicken and biscuits, was founded in 1977 and has more than 800 restaurants across the U.S. and a location in Honduras, according to its website.
—Chase Jordan
october 2, Charlotte Observer, 2 Oct. 2025
The Southern chain — selling biscuits, sweet tea, chicken sandwiches and more — has roughly 800 locations in 17 states, according to its website.
—Jenna Thompson, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chicken
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chicken
Noun
-
Just an utter coward folding to this embarrassing paper tiger administration.—
Megan Cartwright,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Oct. 2025
-
We are told that politics is for cowards, literary analysis is for women, education is a system of liberal indoctrination, brave individuals must resist the herd.—
Robert Rubsam,
Vulture,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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About two dozen people gathered at the town council meeting on October 16 to voice concern and distress about drinking, bathing in or washing their clothes in the yellow, brown water as the public comment period stretched over an hour.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
17 Oct. 2025
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To honor the release of the hostages, Alter's congregation tied a yellow band around the Torah scroll during a service for a holiday marking the end of the annual cycle of Torah readings.—
Sophie Carson,
jsonline.com,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Drake sought nominal, compensatory, and punitive damages, plus legal fees.—
Wesley Stenzel,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Oct. 2025
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However, at least 23 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are in debt distress or at high risk of distress, the World Bank’s recent assessment noted, with public debt in nominal terms and as a share of GDP nearly doubling over the last decade.—
Alexander Onukwue,
semafor.com,
8 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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For its part, Beijing remained defiant, with the commerce ministry saying Sunday that China doesn’t want a tariff war but is also not afraid of one.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
13 Oct. 2025
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Those in the fanbase who wanted Lewis gone four weeks ago are now afraid to lose him.—
Kirk Kenney,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Patrick addressed the tension between his team and the Lions after the game, taking a slight jab at the way Detroit behaves on the field.—
Natasha Dye,
PEOPLE,
14 Oct. 2025
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In more recent trading, there was a slight recovery that brought values back over 65 cents.—
SJ Guest Editorial,
Sourcing Journal,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The boy at the quotation board is running scared.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
-
The best evidence that the Jets were scared to let Fields throw came before halftime, when New York went for it on fourth down on a fake punt, converted it, and then proceeded to run out the clock to head to the locker room.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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In many respects, CDMS users receive the powerful anti-ship capabilities of a surface warfare vessel worth many hundreds of millions of dollars for just a tiny fraction of that price.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Oct. 2025
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Spiders have venom to subdue prey, but the majority have fangs that are too tiny to puncture human skin.—
Arricca Elin SanSone,
Southern Living,
11 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Despite Lockjaw’s raid of their town, which reads as akin to an ICE campaign, Sensei isn’t frightened, confused, or shaken.—
Robert Daniels,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
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The film revealed that when his pal John Belushi died of a drug overdose in 1982 at age 33, Candy was visibly shaken and frightened.—
Stephanie Nolasco,
FOXNews.com,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chicken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chicken. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
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