craven
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Craven
Etymology
From Middle English cravant, either borrowed from Old French cravanté (“defeated”), past participle of cravanter, or a modification of creaunt (“defeated”) after craven (“to crave”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkɹeɪ.vən/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Rhymes: -eɪvən
Adjective
craven (comparative more craven, superlative most craven)
- Unwilling to fight; lacking even the rudiments of courage; extremely cowardly.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cowardly
- 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC:
- The poor craven bridegroom said never a word.
- 2010, Bruce Cumings, The Korean War:
- Prime Minister Abe's fumbling and craven performance took place on a national holiday in Korea, marking the country wide uprising against the Japanese colonial rule that began on March 1, 1919. March 1 is also the day in 1932 that Japan chose to inaugurate Manchukuo (after seizing northeastern China).
- 2020 October 12, Andrew Marantz, quoting Dave Willner, “Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself”, in The New Yorker:
- “But they’ve made some big carve-outs that are just absolute nonsense. There’s no perfect approach to content moderation, but they could at least try to look less transparently craven and incoherent.”
- 2023 September 26, Sam Jones, “Spain elections: Feijóo launches doomed bid to lead country”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
- The PP has seized on the possibility of an amnesty to rally support and to portray the PSOE leader as craven, dependent on Catalan separatists and hellbent on remaining in office.
- 2023 November 15, Christian Wolmar, “Ministers should carry the can for ticket office fiasco”, in RAIL, number 996, page 47:
- Now, I hold no candle for the train operators, and I think that in the main they have been far too craven about any government proposals. But in this instance, they have been badly traduced, led up the hill, and then chucked back down it.
Derived terms
Translations
extremely cowardly
|
Noun
craven (plural cravens)
- A coward.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:coward
- 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:
- He is a craven and a villain else.
Translations
coward
|
Verb
craven (third-person singular simple present cravens, present participle cravening, simple past and past participle cravened)
- To make craven.
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:
- There is a prohibition so divine / That cravens my weak hand.
References
- “craven”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “craven”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
