Cowardice is the lack of bravery or the tendency to avoid difficult or dangerous situations. It denotes a failure to act courageously when action is expected or necessary, often judged in moral or social terms. In common use, it contrasts with courage and valor, and can carry a pejorative nuance depending on context.
"Her cowardy kept her from standing up to the bully."
"The team suffered from cowardice after the coach criticized them publicly."
"Historians debate whether the leader’s cowards were more afraid of failing than of harm."
"She was accused of cowardice for not volunteering to lead the risky expedition."
Cowardice traces to the Old French word coucher or cuver, but more directly from the Middle English cowardise, derived from coward, which itself came from Old North French cueart or cuor, ultimately from the Latin cabere (to strive) through a chain of pejorative labels. The term originally carried social stigma, designating someone as ‘knavish’ or ‘cow’ in a moral sense. By Middle English, coward was used of those lacking courage, particularly in battles or public risk. The suffix -ice, from Old French -ice, turns the noun into a state or condition. Over time, cowardice acquired broader psychological and moral dimensions, shifting from battlefield context to everyday hesitation, anxiety, and self-preservation. In modern usage, it is commonly applied in moral judgments (political, social, or personal) and can signal situational rather than absolute lack of courage. First known written uses appear in late medieval English texts, with statistical occurrences rising in the early modern period as notions of personal virtue became more codified in literature and moral philosophy.
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Words that rhyme with "Cowardice"
-ice sounds
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Pronunciation: /ˈkaʊ.ər.dɪs/ (US/UK) with primary stress on the first syllable. Start with the diphthong /aʊ/ like 'cow' or 'now,' then the schwa /ə/ in the second syllable, followed by /dɪs/ as in 'this' without voicing. Mouth position: lips neutral, tongue high-mid for /aʊ/ and midsyllabic /ər/ reduced to a schwa plus r-colored vowel in rhotic accents. IPA reference helps ensure the /aʊ/ glide and the /d/ are distinct from a 't' sound in rapid speech. Listen to native examples to hear the clear stress on CAU-.
Common mistakes: 1) Misplacing stress, saying /ˈkaɪ.ər.dɪs/ or /ˈkaʊ.ər.dɪz/ with a long z-like final sound. 2) Reducing the first syllable to /kɒ/ or /koʊ/ in non-rhotic accents. 3) Blurring /ər/ into a strong syllable: /ˈkaʊər.dɪs/ vs /ˈkaʊ.æ.dɪs/. Correction: keep primary stress on CAW- as /ˈkaʊ.ər.dɪs/, ensure the /ər/ is unstressed as a quick schwa before /dɪs/. Practice with minimal pairs and emphasize the /aʊ/ diphthong and the final /dɪs/.
US: rhotic /ˈkaʊ.ɚ.dɪs/ with an r-colored vowel in the second syllable; syllable 2 rhymes with 'sir' minus the r color: /ɚ/. UK: non-rhotic or weak rhoticity; /ˈkaʊə.dɪs/ with a lighter /ə/ and less r-coloring; AU: similar to UK but with broader vowel quality; /ˈkaʊ.ədɪs/ and the second syllable often reduced. Accent differences center on rhoticity of the /ər/ portion and the degree of vowel length in the first syllable diphthong. In all, main stress remains on the first syllable.
The word combines a strong CV cluster and a subtle /ər/ sequence following the primary stressed /kaʊ/. The diphthong /aʊ/ must glide into a schwa or schwa-like rhotic vowel, which many learners flatten. The final consonant cluster /dɪs/ can become /dəs/ in rapid speech in some dialects, muddying the ending. Additionally, distinguishing /ˈkaʊ/ from /ˈkaʊər/ requires careful tongue position and breath support to avoid adding unnecessary vowel length on the second syllable.
In connected speech, you may hear subtle linking: CAW-ər-dice becomes CAW-ər-diss with the /d/ and /ɪ/ blending into a lighter /dɪs/; or the second syllable reduces toward /ə/ in faster speech, yielding /ˈkaʊə.dɪs/. The unique challenge is maintaining the strong initial /kaʊ/ while keeping the middle /ər/ reduced but audible to avoid misinterpreting as 'care-’? with a long e sound. Keep the middle syllable crisp but not overemphasized.
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