recreant 1 of 2

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recreant

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noun

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as in coward
a person who shows a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger the historian reserved his greatest contempt for those recreants who opposed the witch hunt but lacked the courage to speak out against it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for recreant
Adjective
  • Taylor Swift knows what excellence requires and is not afraid to demand it.
    Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Don’t be afraid to use your gut instinct.
    Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Clarisse looks intimidating climbing out of a boat, as does Bushnell’s traitorous Luke, who wields a sharp-looking knife.
    Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 24 July 2025
  • There's a delicious whodunit aspect to it, too, as the list of five potentially traitorous suspects includes the operative's own high-profile wife (Cate Blanchett).
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 July 2025
Noun
  • Despite opposition to busing, particularly among White families who comprised much of Louisville's Catholic population, Archbishop McDonough vowed in 1974 that his schools would not become the home of public school deserters.
    Krista Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Lincoln made frequent stops in the county and tried cases there as an attorney, according to the city, and Marshall was the site of an extended dispute during the Civil War involving Union Army deserters.
    John Tuohy, IndyStar, 3 July 2025
Noun
  • We are told that politics is for cowards, literary analysis is for women, education is a system of liberal indoctrination, brave individuals must resist the herd.
    Robert Rubsam, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Punk then made his entrance to confront Lynch, calling Rollins a coward for hiding behind his wife.
    Andrew Ravens‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Dionysius of Heraclea, caught in a health crisis, abandoned Stoicism for the pleasures of the Cyrenaics — only to be branded a traitor by former allies who saw his change of heart as proof of weakness.
    Shai Tubali, Big Think, 30 Sep. 2025
  • The bandit takes the pair into Shaybani territory, where he is treated with suspicion, to the extent that he is considered a traitor and condemned to die.
    Damon Wise, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Hundreds of frightened residents gathered in a grassy field near the fire station and refused to return home hours after the quake struck Bogo in Cebu province.
    Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025
  • So stay calm, control your breathing, don’t be frightened.
    Ellise Shafer, Variety, 29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Evaluating defamation claims where the report contains demonstrably false factual assertions.
    Tim Reynolds, Fortune, 3 Oct. 2025
  • However, as several independent experts interviewed by NPR note, that claim is false.
    Scott Neuman, NPR, 3 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Skarsgård has long been a red carpet renegade, showing flashes of that playful freak that lives within.
    Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 3 Oct. 2025
  • With a running time of 191 minutes, Grindhouse was meant to be a celebration of the exploitation cinema on which the two renegade directors grew up.
    Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 28 Sep. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Recreant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/recreant. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.

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