How to Use craven in a Sentence

craven

adjective
  • There are lots of good rebuttals to this craven move.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2025
  • Things will change only if the voters throw the craven members out.
    — Armstrong Williams, Baltimore Sun, 7 July 2024
  • There isn’t an inch on this planet that some craven rich person won’t figure out how to strip mine.
    — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2023
  • The show was better off when both women's worldviews were less craven and more nuanced.
    — Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 1 July 2024
  • But to defend books coverage in these craven terms is already to concede too much.
    — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2026
  • So does the craven poor judgment required by any public officials who hire him.
    — CBS News, 21 Dec. 2025
  • Bosses in foodland are every bit as craven and cutthroat as anywhere else.
    — Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 23 July 2021
  • And some viewers will surely be turned off by the network’s craven disregard for the truth.
    — David Zurawik, CNN, 2 Mar. 2023
  • There doesn’t seem to be an easy escape, and that’s true whether the league’s leaders are noble and good, or greedy and craven.
    — Mike Finger, ExpressNews.com, 10 Oct. 2019
  • His bride should be presumed innocent (until proven to be equally craven).
    — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 4 Apr. 2020
  • The distortions of social media seemed more craven than ever.
    — Emily Witt, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2020
  • The glow of paradise is offset by the stench of crime, usually committed by craven schemers.
    — Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2024
  • Not all teams and owners are as craven as Jacobs and Fertitta.
    — Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 26 Mar. 2020
  • Dad forcing the family to log off to bury his secret is a craven but understandable move.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 2 Mar. 2025
  • And in a town where craven grasps for power are part of the daily routine, Eva and her musical are right at home.
    — Peter Marks, Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2023
  • Welcome back, to fans and sad sack wasp traps alike, to the craven death pit of greed and egomania that is Succession.
    — Andrew R. Chow, Time, 8 Aug. 2019
  • This has left some with the feeling that the cheapest, most craven campaign strategies end up being the most successful.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 6 Nov. 2025
  • But their grins were as wide as their hopes were secure, whereas Isabelle is prey to sudden squalls of tears and craven entreaties.
    — Michelle McNamara, The New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2018
  • All of them present a witch’s brew of demotic diversity and craven dishonesty.
    — Armond White, National Review, 27 Sep. 2023
  • That has made her government’s craven and repressive acts all the more bewildering.
    — The Economist, 18 July 2017
  • In his last novel, Bill laments that journalists are craven and untrustworthy.
    — Washington Post, 12 Oct. 2021
  • Little wonder, then, that the modern fan is just a wee bit jaded, immune to even the most craven means to a competitive end.
    — Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2020
  • In the end, the movie reveals very little about an artist’s nature — and a lot about craven commercial calculation.
    — Edouard Deluc, New York Times, 10 July 2018
  • Not an inspiration for craven pundits and politicians to use players as divisive avatars.
    — Brian Hamilton, New York Times, 2 July 2026
  • But in this instance, NBC News’ decision to spike a story may not be craven.
    — Andrew Tyndall, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Oct. 2017
  • Activists portrayed the law as a craven attempt to exonerate Netanyahu and an assault on the rule of law.
    — Noa Cnaan-On, Washington Post, 5 Feb. 2018
  • First of all, whether or not this is a fluke or a craven, calculated Hollywood move is completely beside the point.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 2 July 2024
  • The choice was roundly lambasted at the time and generally attributed to a craven motive.
    — Thomas Doherty, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Mar. 2022
  • This been a craven and desperate money grab to try to recoup some of the revenue that has been lost, in a season with no ticket sales or concessions.
    — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, 14 Dec. 2020
  • Piker is trying to explain the craven flip of the once-liberal tech titan to the Republican side.
    — Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 13 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'craven.' 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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