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
The result is that Hamas has reaped the political windfall of its own callous cowardice.
—
Aviva Klompas, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
Monster doesn’t have answers for these questions, just a general disdain for Americans and broad observations about our own cowardice.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2025
All of this amounts to a rounding error for the tech giants—averaged out, YouTube made more than $107 million from ad revenue every single day last quarter—but these are still acts of profound obsequiousness and corporate cowardice.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 2025
But there is a certain level of caution, and maybe even occasionally cowardice, in how these political topics are handled.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cowardice
Aviva Klompas, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
Monster doesn’t have answers for these questions, just a general disdain for Americans and broad observations about our own cowardice.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2025
All of this amounts to a rounding error for the tech giants—averaged out, YouTube made more than $107 million from ad revenue every single day last quarter—but these are still acts of profound obsequiousness and corporate cowardice.
—Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 1 Oct. 2025
But there is a certain level of caution, and maybe even occasionally cowardice, in how these political topics are handled.
—Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
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
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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
Noun
-
Some protesters are there to boo and shame Benitez for her spinelessness.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
14 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cowardice.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowardice. Accessed 11 Jan. 2026.
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