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ungallant

adjective

Definition of ungallantnext
as in timorous

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of ungallant Grubby, even criminal, tasks come easily to the unabashedly ungallant Sancho. — Ew Staff Updated, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024 The Times made ungallant references to Taft’s heft, and to the chief reason for his visit, to see his sister. — Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungallant
  1. timorous
  2. pusillanimous
  3. cowardly
  4. unheroic
  5. coward
  6. dastardly
  7. diffident
  8. craven
Adjective
  • The lesser among them, the timorous, the doubtful, and the wavering, stood back, watching, waiting for some greater sign, savoring their doubts.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2025
  • The great danger of that moment was that a political backlash — abetted by a furious media and timorous politicians — would lead to a restoration of the policy of Roe.
    — The Editors, National Review, 24 June 2025
Definition of timorous
Adjective
  • Some also have lost lawyers, dismayed by the pusillanimous behavior of their leaders.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2025
  • The second believed the United States could attain comprehensive security through military-technological means and saw diplomacy as a quixotic or pusillanimous enterprise that dishonored and weakened the country.
    — A. Wess Mitchell, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
Definition of pusillanimous
Adjective
  • In the case stood the cowardly lion's costume from the original film The Wizard of Oz from 1938.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 22 Sep. 2026
  • The cowardly, devious Turgeniev has assimilated to the comforts of the West —that alone is enough for Fyodor to detest him.
    — Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of cowardly
Adjective
  • Yes, Arsenal fan Neel from New Delhi held his nerve on the final day to shake off the persistent and heroic challenge of six-year-old Wilfred — and the meandering, distinctly unheroic challenge of a 51-year-old journalist.
    — Oliver Kay, New York Times, 26 May 2026
  • That larger significance is remarkably unheroic and fatalistic.
    — Gabriel Winslow-Yost, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
Definition of unheroic
Adjective
  • Whoomp, whoomp bumped the coward heart.
    — James Arthur, The New York Review of Books, 5 Feb. 2026
Definition of coward
Adjective
  • Meanwhile, Thoma Bravo, the firm that brought you most of these enterprise software bonds that were sliced into these aforementioned pieces of dastardly paper, is back at it again, talking a big game and looking for big deals.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 13 Sep. 2026
  • Each of Coyote’s dastardly plans rely on equipment from the powerful conglomerate Acme.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of dastardly
Adjective
  • As the trailer tells us, the pleasantly diffident Mona (Moore) is thrown way out of orbit following an audition for a musical show.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 23 June 2026
  • To strangers, Kay seemed demure, diffident, even shy, an impression her youthful appearance helped create.
    — Charlotte Brooks, Big Think, 13 Mar. 2026
Definition of diffident
Adjective
  • Did my eyes widen, revealing a craven journalist ready to pounce on an exclusive?
    — Jason Sheeler, InStyle, 9 Sep. 2026
  • She was especially hurt that some of the people who criticized Cox most harshly, dismissing him as craven and disingenuous, were those who had the closest relationships with him.
    — McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of craven

Browse Nearby Words

ungainly
ungallant
ungenerosity
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Cite this Entry

“Ungallant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungallant. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

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