Topic Thesaurus
Roget's Thesaurus

Cowardice (Excess of fear)

Nouns
  • cowardice, pusillanimity
  • cowardliness etc. adj.
  • timidity, effeminacy. poltroonery, baseness
  • dastardness, dastardy
  • abject fear, funk
  • Dutch courage
  • fear etc. Fear
  • white feather, faint heart
  • cold feet [U.S.], yellow streak [Slang]. coward, poltroon, dastard, sneak, recreant
  • shy cock, dunghill cock
  • coistril, milksop, white liver, lily liver, nidget, one that cannot say 'boo' to a goose
  • slink
  • Bob Acres, Jerry Sneak. alarmist, terrorist, pessimist
  • runagate etc. (fugitive) [Absence of pursuit.] Avoidance.
Verbs
  • quail etc. (fear) Fear
  • be cowardly etc. adj., be a coward etc. n.
  • funk
  • cower, skulk, sneak
  • flinch, shy, fight shy, slink, turn tail
  • run away etc. (avoid) [Absence of pursuit.] Avoidance
  • show, the white feather.
Adjectives
  • coward, cowardly
  • fearful, shy
  • timid, timorous
  • skittish
  • poor-spirited, spiritless, soft, effeminate. weak-minded
  • infirm of purpose etc. Irresolution
  • weak-hearted, fainthearted, chickenhearted, henhearted, lilyhearted, pigeon-hearted
  • white-livered, lily-livered, milk-livered
  • milksop, smock-faced
  • unable to say 'boo' to a goose. dastard, dastardly
  • base, craven, sneaking, dunghill, recreant
  • unwarlike, unsoldier-like. in face a lion but in heart a deer." unmanned
  • frightened etc. Fear.
Int
  • every man for himself! [Fr.Tr.]
  • devil take the hindmost!
Phrases
  • one's courage oozing out