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
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowardliness
Noun
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Berating foreign leaders who complained about his tariffs, continuing with threats to take over Greenland and accusing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of cowardice are just a few examples that don’t create feelings of warmth, friendship and respect.—
Tom Jurkowsky,
Baltimore Sun,
25 Apr. 2026 -
By all accounts, being a milquetoast is a sort of vice—cowardice masquerading as prudence.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
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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
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Cite this Entry
“Cowardliness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowardliness. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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