How to Use cowardly in a Sentence

cowardly

1 of 2 adverb
  • Maybe that was cowardly in your view, but don’t focus on that.
    — Meredith Goldstein, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2023
  • Her life was taken from her at the young age of 23 in a senseless cowardly act .
    — Carol Robinson | [email protected], al, 17 Jan. 2023
  • For example, the way Angine tries but doesn’t dare, is kind of cowardly.
    — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 30 Nov. 2025
  • The show’s heart may be in the right place, but its timidity comes off as clumsy at best and cowardly at worst.
    — Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Apr. 2023
  • But his slow start and cowardly late-game decision are both huge blemishes on his record.
    — Rob Reischel, Forbes, 6 July 2022
  • But the cowardly Arthur grabs a pistol and goes after Spencer.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2023
  • Roman whirls on her with a cowardly flash of teeth, cutting her loose and losing her loyalty in the process.
    — Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 30 May 2023
  • Who would have ever thought that the image of a man who is on tape cowardly shooting someone in the back would be used to sell clothes.
    — Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
  • There are cowardly racists hiding in the corners, hiding in their nasty existence.
    — Nyakio Grieco, refinery29.com, 8 June 2020
  • Ditching your wife for the empty promise of an online affair is a rotten, cowardly, lowdown way out.
    — Amy Dickinson, Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2023
  • He was cowardly shot while working tirelessly to serve our community this evening.
    — Amanda M. Morris, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2023
  • Less obvious but far more pervasive harm has been caused by those who fear being judged cowardly and so behave recklessly.
    — Alex Kingsbury, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Feb. 2018
  • The exchange reminded me of the word Snyder used earlier in the day -- cowardly.
    — Brian Stelter, CNN, 26 Sep. 2021
  • And the officer, the superior, a lieutenant, who is still injured at home, by the way, was cowardly attacked with a brick.
    — Mark Morales, CNN, 22 June 2020
  • The hate group had originally planned their parade in Pelham, but cowardly moved it when protestors showed up.
    — Laura Beck, Cosmopolitan, 4 Dec. 2016
  • Indeed, to silence speech for fear of reprisal is a cowardly, a surrender of our most basic constitutional rights.
    — Orrin Hatch, National Review, 7 Feb. 2018
  • Those that are so unforgiving as to seek this retribution, so cowardly as to grant it, and so dishonest as to excuse it are broken.
    — Isaac Schorr, National Review, 30 Dec. 2020
  • The government called the violence barbaric and cowardly and announced three days of mourning.
    — Sam Mednick, ajc, 15 Nov. 2021
  • The series is often too cowardly in its criticism of the royal institution.
    — Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 9 Nov. 2022
  • At worst, the county states, someone could conclude that Loomis acted cowardly — but the due process clause doesn't require officers to act bravely.
    — Hannah Leone, Aurora Beacon-News, 18 Jan. 2018
  • Wolff shines, too; his Craig is ambitious and amiable and cowardly, the kind of guy whose commitment to principle is secondary to being right.
    — Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2023
  • The once-cowardly clergyman has earned my Most Improved Character Award, by the way.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes, 3 July 2021
  • Mark Twain comes along and, in a three-to-four-page comic rant about the animal, gives us a way to think of it as a cowardly, despicable little wretch that lives off carrion.
    — National Geographic, 7 Aug. 2016
  • Roland grapples with the notion that there is something cowardly or dishonest about laying all his troubles at the door of Miriam Cornell.
    — Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 19 Oct. 2022
  • Even in the 1990s, any reluctance or hesitancy likely would have been deemed soft, perhaps cowardly.
    — Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Jan. 2023
  • Are the Simpsons colored yellow because the show is cowardly, its one-time edginess just a relic from before the days of PC fascism?
    — Armond White, National Review, 21 Apr. 2021
  • First, using state savings accounts to fill massive state deficits for the sake of propping up the Alaska economy has been short-sighted, stupid and, on the part of politicians, cowardly.
    — Ronnie Chappell, Alaska Dispatch News, 26 June 2017
  • The bullying Sanhedrin constables, led by a pricelessly cowardly Jared Loftin, are all about keeping the oppressed in line.
    — Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2022
  • Hoffman, who died in 2014, was credible as smart or dumb people, as self-aware or obtuse, as powerful or weak, jolly or sad, brave or cowardly, bold or meek, quiet or loud.
    — Chris Hewitt, Star Tribune, 31 Mar. 2021
  • In this Wizard of Oz sequel, Glenda and the no-longer-cowardly lion teach Dorothy about the powers inherent in her other clothing items.
    — Washington Post, 7 Oct. 2021

cowardly

2 of 2 adjective
  • She made a cowardly decision to go along with the group.
  • He insisted on avoiding a cowardly retreat.
  • Don't get caught up with the suit and tie my cowardly friend.
    — Matt Young, Chron, 21 Jan. 2021
  • But in this case, aren’t there other avenues for such a cowardly act?
    — John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 16 Nov. 2020
  • My senators are too cowardly to talk to me.
    — FOXNews.com, 6 Apr. 2026
  • Hate speech disguised as free speech is cowardly and shameful.
    — Peter Helman, Billboard, 13 Aug. 2017
  • The cowardly fox will run away forever if it is left alone with two chickens.
    — Richard Malena, Popular Mechanics, 29 Aug. 2022
  • This cowardly act is a symptom of the current day sports landscape.
    — Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2022
  • Due to his cowardly on-screen persona, many fans assumed the injury was a work.
    — Andrew Ravens‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Stick to sports was always a crutch for the comfortable and cowardly.
    — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 1 June 2020
  • Their cowardly response is laughable and sad.
    — Nick Mordowanec, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025
  • These heinous, cowardly assaults are an attack not just on law enforcement, but on the rule of law.
    — Emanuella Grinberg, CNN, 8 May 2018
  • The prince finds sour amusement in the way the old lout can talk his way out of any cowardly mischief, but his mind is elsewhere.
    — Charles McNulty, latimes.com, 10 June 2018
  • Open up to her cowardly husband who is unlikely to believe her?
    — Tomris Laffly, Variety, 3 Mar. 2022
  • Anger for the police officer that was involved in this cowardly act.
    — Audrey Conklin, Fox News, 17 Dec. 2021
  • Taken out of arms and lives, in this freaking cowardly way, so young, so innocent, full of life and love.
    — Zoe Christen Jones, CBS News, 26 May 2022
  • The story turns courageous and cowardly, sometimes in a single scene.
    — Darren Franich, EW.com, 16 Dec. 2019
  • This is cowardly and flies in the face of anyone’s idea of accountability.
    — Star Tribune, 7 Aug. 2020
  • Violence in a place of worship is a cowardly and criminal act.
    — Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Sep. 2025
  • Children and teachers were murdered in a cowardly attack in their Texas school.
    — Roxana Saberi, CBS News, 26 May 2022
  • Dirrell didn't fight again for 21 months and, in fact, in the seven years since that cowardly act, has fought only seven times.
    — Bob Velin, USA TODAY, 20 May 2017
  • And that's what makes made Leonard's apology all the more insincere and cowardly.
    — Jesse Yomtov, USA TODAY, 10 Mar. 2021
  • Now innocent children are dying because so many people were too cowardly to speak up.
    — Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The rest of the statement was full of equally cowardly equivocation.
    — Sahar Mustafah august 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Yes, human beings jeered and threw full soda cans at a mother and child from the cowardly position of a moving car.
    — Christine Koh, CNN, 18 Mar. 2021
  • But even the most perfect Constitution can be undone by the wicked with the help of the bought, the stupid, and the cowardly.
    — Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
  • And as is true in all fights against cowardly, bullying, thin-skinned autocrats, our weakness was provocative.
    — Matt Robison, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Our hearts are broken for the victims, their families and all who have been impacted by this senseless and cowardly act.
    — Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Still, tanking is a cowardly tactic, and the Giants could salvage their season.
    — The Tylt, AL.com, 13 Oct. 2017
  • Deputy Brown’s courage in the face of an unprovoked and cowardly attack reflects the very best of our profession.
    — Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Dec. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cowardly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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