as in cowardice
a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger
the soldier was court-martialed for cowardliness under fire
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowardliness
Noun
-
By all accounts, being a milquetoast is a sort of vice—cowardice masquerading as prudence.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026 -
Devereaux receives a hero’s welcome back home, but his irrational and violent behavior threatens his new livelihood, as does the knowledge of his cowardice held by Capt.—
Declan Gallagher,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Apr. 2026
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
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.
Cite this Entry
“Cowardliness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowardliness. Accessed 24 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
