Word · Frequency #18925
cowardly
胆小的；懦弱的
lacking courage; timid and afraid
通常用于贬义
- 1.
Showing cowardice; lacking in courage; weakly fearful.
表现出懦弱；缺乏勇气；胆小怕事
- 2.
lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted; - P.B.Shelley
缺乏勇气；卑鄙地胆怯和懦弱；- P.B.Shelley
表现出懦弱；缺乏勇气；胆小怕事；缺乏勇气；卑鄙地胆怯和懦弱；- P.B.Shelley；女人气
In use
His cowardly refusal to defend his friend disappointed everyone.
The cowardly lion in the story eventually finds his courage.
She called his behavior cowardly and walked away.
cowardly dogs, ye will not aid me then
cowardly + noun
形容词作定语，修饰名词。
He made a cowardly decision to abandon his friends.
他做出了一个懦弱的决定，抛弃了自己的朋友。
be cowardly
形容词作表语，后接不定式短语。
It is cowardly to bully the weak.
欺负弱者是懦弱的行为。
it is cowardly of someone to do something
Connections
Collocations
- cowardly act
- 懦弱的举动
- Running away from the problem was a cowardly act.逃避问题是一种懦弱的行为。
- cowardly attack
- 卑劣的袭击
- It was a cowardly attack on unarmed civilians.那是一次针对手无寸铁平民的卑劣袭击。
- cowardly decision
- 懦弱的决定
- Quitting now would be a cowardly decision.现在放弃将是一个懦弱的决定。
- cowardly silence
- 懦弱的沉默
- Her cowardly silence allowed the rumor to spread.她懦弱的沉默让谣言传播开来。
- cowardly lie
- 懦弱的谎言
- He told a cowardly lie to escape punishment.他说了一个懦弱的谎言来逃避惩罚。
- cowardly lion
Learner notes
Memory Tip
cowardly 以 cow 开头，想象一头牛（cow）遇事吓得发抖、不敢上前，就是胆小懦弱。
Context & Register
语域：neutral 常见场景：书面叙述、日常评价 该词为中性正式用词，多用于书面或叙述语境，日常对话中也可使用，但语气比 scared 更显正式；通常用来形容人或行为缺乏勇气。
Grammar Note
胆小的；懦弱的
Pronunciation & Spelling
cow、coward、how、loudly 都含 /aʊ/ 音，其中 cow 和 how 与 cowardly 中的 'ow' 拼写相同，coward 与 cowardly 开头音也相同；loudly 以 -dly 结尾，与 cowardly 形成近韵。注意 toward 和 forward 拼写相近，但发音不同：toward /təˈwɔːd/、forward /ˈfɔːwəd/，不含 /aʊ/。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.