chicken 1 of 2

noun

ˈchi-kᵊn How to pronounce chicken (audio)
Definition of chickennext
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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

chicken

2 of 2

adjective

1
as in yellow
having or showing a shameful lack of courage too chicken to go through with the stunt

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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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of chicken
Noun
The former chicken-and-biscuit restaurant chain workers sought monetary damages and a court order to force Bojangles to tighten its data security to protect personal information. — Chase Jordan july 7, Charlotte Observer, 7 July 2026 Burmese Crispy Pork Belly sounds meaty and satisfying, for instance, and what’s this about a Burmese Poutine with fries, cheese and coconut chicken? — John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 7 July 2026 The fence ran right along Nine Mile Road, and across that road was another house with another small acreage that had been home to goats and lambs and chickens over the years. — Emily Ruskovich, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026 When the migrant flows were at their highest in 2023, everyone still received hot meals of chicken and rice. — Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 6 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for chicken
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chicken
  1. coward
  2. yellow
  3. nominal
  4. afraid
  5. slight
  6. scared
  7. tiny
  8. frightened
Noun
  • That’s the sign of a true coward.
    — Maria Bamford, Vulture, 23 June 2026
  • Fishback showed up at a Donalds campaign event in Lake City on Saturday with a bunch of supporters, shouting through a bullhorn that Donalds was a coward for not debating him and telling him to go back to New York, a reference to Donalds’ childhood in Brooklyn.
    — Jeffrey Schweers, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 June 2026
Definition of coward
Adjective
  • Shortly after, the mom-to-be stepped out in the Big Apple wearing a strapless yellow velvet gown with a floral design from Lela Rose’s Resort 2027 collection.
    — Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026
  • If Eloise had The Plaza, then Katerina and Gabrielle Tana had Dan Tana’s—the beloved red-sauce joint in a little yellow house on Santa Monica Boulevard that’s been a Los Angeles staple since 1964.
    — Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 7 July 2026
Definition of yellow
Adjective
  • Their nominal wide players aren’t explosive wingers who sprint 50 yards in five seconds, but more languid players who like drifting infield and playing passing combinations.
    — Michael Cox, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Its most common glide bomb models are the FAB-250, FAB-500, FAB-1500, and FAB-3000, where the number corresponds to the nominal weight of the bomb in kilograms.
    — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of nominal
Adjective
  • If your bathroom has a basic flush mount, don’t be afraid to replace it with something more eye-catching, like a sputnik chandelier or a lantern pendant.
    — Marisa Suzanne Martin, The Spruce, 8 July 2026
  • People shouldn’t be afraid, Hammerschlag says, because human-shark encounters are extremely rare—you’re statistically more likely to be killed by lightning.
    — Sam Nichols, Scientific American, 8 July 2026
Definition of afraid
Adjective
  • In 2024, roughly 48,800 Americans died by suicide, a slight decrease from the peak of nearly 49,500 deaths in this manner in 2022.
    — Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
  • Matching trousers stayed narrow through the hips before loosening down the leg into a slight flare.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 3 July 2026
Definition of slight
Adjective
  • On Saturday, July 4, the Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Department rescued a dog that had fallen into a well after running away scared from the sound of fireworks.
    — Emily Harter, Kansas City Star, 6 July 2026
  • Playing happily one second, and too scared to be alone the next.
    — Tereza Shkurtaj, PEOPLE, 5 July 2026
Definition of scared
Adjective
  • Even tiny electromagnetic disturbances can disrupt the quantum states that perform calculations, reducing the accuracy and reliability of the system.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 July 2026
  • What Uranus will look like Uranus should resemble a tiny greenish star and will appear only about 1/63 as bright as Mars.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 3 July 2026
Definition of tiny
Adjective
  • In May, a frightened horse rammed into another carriage, causing the vehicle to flip over, injuring the driver.
    — ANDREA SACHS THE WASHINGTON POST, Arkansas Online, 28 June 2026
  • Rodríguez acknowledged that many remain too frightened to return home even after inspections declared some buildings safe.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 27 June 2026
Definition of frightened

Phrases Containing chicken

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chick
chicken
chickened (out)
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Cite this Entry

“Chicken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chicken. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on chicken

Nglish: Translation of chicken for Spanish Speakers

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