craven

Meaning

Adj

Unwilling to fight; lacking even the rudiments of courage; extremely cowardly.

Noun

A coward.

Verb

To make craven.

Synonyms

coward

cowardly

recreant

fearful

😨

timid

faint-hearted

yellow

poltroon

pusillanimous

chicken

🐔

gutless

spineless

timorous

dastard

chicken-hearted

unmanly

white livered

chicken hearted

sook

weak kneed

boggler

lily livered

afraid

quakebuttock

bashful

caitiff

cur

dastardly

fainthearted

funky

mealymouthed

milquetoast

mollycoddle

scared

sheepish

shy

skittish

skulker

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkɹeɪ.vən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: cravant

In summary

From Middle English cravant, either borrowed from Old French cravanté (“defeated”), past participle of cravanter, or a modification of creaunt (“defeated”) after craven (“to crave”).