COWARDICE Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

cowardice

noun

ˈkau̇(-ə)r-dəs

as in fearfulness

a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger the cowardice shown by political leaders who were willing to give the Nazis whatever they wanted

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Recent Examples of cowardice However, without phronesis, too much courage may become recklessness, or too little courage could result in cowardice. —

Tim Hulsey, The Conversation, 10 Mar. 2026 Such cancellations are a blot on the escutcheon of the left as certainly as cancellations from the right, and the deference of any publisher to them a mark of rank cowardice. —

Literary Hub, 19 Feb. 2026 Esther’s concealment is not cowardice. —

Rabbi Bruce D. Forman, Sun Sentinel, 17 Feb. 2026 This ethic has been especially true in the renowned Sports section, which was killed in a Zoom announcement notable for its belly-wriggling cowardice and self-owning incompetence. —

Sally Jenkins, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for cowardice

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowardice

Noun

Given the President’s long-standing support for corporate tax cuts and deregulation of industry, this pusillanimity is perhaps not so surprising.

— John Cassidy, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
Our logrolling, our stumps and their politics, our fisheries, our Negroes and Indians, our boasts and our repudiations, the wrath of rogues and the pusillanimity of honest men, the northern trade, the southern planting, the western clearing, Oregon, and Texas, are yet unsung.

— Mark Edmundson, Harper’s Magazine , 12 Dec. 2022