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Recent Examples of cowering
Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Oct. 2025
There is a cowering quality to her body, even her voice.
—Zuzana Říhová, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
The commuter, who was still wearing her pizzeria uniform, was captured on train surveillance video cowering as her attacker towered over her minutes before the attack.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2025
The staff member can be seen cowering down to fend off the attack and then turns and squares up to the irate passenger, who’s wearing a green colored top and army green pants.
—Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 29 Nov. 2024
The trauma of war is ever-present in Honda's vision, which sees citizens fleeing for their lives and cowering in the rubble of their homes.
—Katie Rife, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024
Neither do the cowering members of Slough House.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024
Hence the obtuse rabbis, the cowering Uncle Yasha, and, in Aliyah of the 1990s, the naked Russian woman, presumably a prostitute, presenting herself doggy-style.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024
Adjective
Lily, meanwhile, was found cowering beside the couch, with the guiltiest of expressions on her face.
—Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Oct. 2025
There is a cowering quality to her body, even her voice.
—Zuzana Říhová, Literary Hub, 26 Sep. 2025
The commuter, who was still wearing her pizzeria uniform, was captured on train surveillance video cowering as her attacker towered over her minutes before the attack.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2025
The staff member can be seen cowering down to fend off the attack and then turns and squares up to the irate passenger, who’s wearing a green colored top and army green pants.
—Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 29 Nov. 2024
The trauma of war is ever-present in Honda's vision, which sees citizens fleeing for their lives and cowering in the rubble of their homes.
—Katie Rife, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024
Neither do the cowering members of Slough House.
—Erik Kain, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024
Hence the obtuse rabbis, the cowering Uncle Yasha, and, in Aliyah of the 1990s, the naked Russian woman, presumably a prostitute, presenting herself doggy-style.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowering
Verb
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But the aftermath of the videos left many Democrats cringing, Republican candidates pouncing, and political observers wondering how voters would respond.—
Nicole Nixon,
Sacbee.com,
14 Oct. 2025
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The cringing mortifications and unsettling unreality make the series a tough sit.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Ross passed the day's examination with flying colors – barely flinching at the rubber chicken.—
Laura L. Davis,
Nashville Tennessean,
6 Oct. 2025
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Skubal, apparently flinching with the noise, balked for only the second time in his career.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Less than a year after Poor Things — and a mere three months since that movie won multiple Oscars — Lanthimos reunited with Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Margaret Qualley for a demented triptych organized around dominant-submissive relationships.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
24 Oct. 2025
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The country wasn’t being run, and laws weren’t being made, by people who endorse the idea of submissive women with great enthusiasm.—
Megan Angelo,
Glamour,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The president has been calling aggressively for lower rates and a more acquiescent Fed.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
17 Sep. 2025
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Where Chelsea’s domestic overseers have been largely acquiescent to their accounting ingenuity, the same can’t be said abroad.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
21 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Accommodating, which is unassertive and cooperative, prioritizes the needs and preferences of others over one’s own in order to maintain harmony.—
Ellen Choi,
Forbes,
10 Mar. 2025
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Shy and unassertive, she’s often been overlooked by others and kept to herself.—
Yasmine AlSayyad,
The New Yorker,
9 Jan. 2023
Adjective
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The Hulk wasn’t very compliant.—
Richard Lederer,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Oct. 2025
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Accessibility and Sustainability Colony Club has one ADA-compliant guest room.—
Kate Van Dyke,
Travel + Leisure,
25 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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When legends who have left the public eye or dealt with illness pass away, there’s a sort of resigned expectation, but that wasn’t the case with Keaton, who worked all the way to the end before dying at 79.—
Brian Tallerico,
Vulture,
14 Oct. 2025
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The Cowboys are only .500, and the expectations for this team from their resigned fan base are so low that a playoff appearance will qualify as a good year.—
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Maryland’s appeal points to Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which instructs federal judges to be highly deferential in evaluating state criminal convictions.—
Zach Schonfeld,
The Hill,
24 Sep. 2025
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The joke was neither too harsh nor too deferential.—
Hershal Pandya,
Vulture,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cowering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowering. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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