🇨🇳Chinese Source WordCode: ZH

懦弱

Pronunciation / Transliteration: nuòruò

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Cowardly/ˈkaʊ.ərd.li/
adjectiveCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #1500 frequency
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🇨🇳 Example Sentence in Chinese:

"他的懦弱行为让朋友们失望。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As adjective
  1. 1

    Lacking courage; excessively afraid of danger or pain.

    "He made a cowardly decision to avoid confrontation."
  2. 2

    Characterized by a lack of bravery; timid.

    "Her cowardly behavior during the crisis disappointed her friends."

Thesaurus & Semantic Spectrum

Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The word 'cowardly' originates from the Middle English 'cowardli', derived from 'coward', which itself comes from the Old French 'coard', meaning 'tail', a reference to the notion of a coward as someone who 'tucks their tail' in fear. The term has evolved over centuries to describe a lack of bravery or courage.

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