COWARDLY  懦弱的

FEARFUL WHEN COURAGE is NEEDED.
FAINT-HEARTEDLILY-LIVEREDSPINELESSCHICKEN-HEARTEDCRAVENTIMIDTIMOROUSFEARFULPUSILLANIMOUSYELLOWCHICKENWEAK-KNEEDGUTLESSYELLOW-BELLIEDWIMPISHWIMPYCHICKEN-LIVERED
Antonym
  • COURAGEVIRTUE OR ATTITUDE of DARING to ACT:carry-out DANGEROUS BUT NECESSARY ACTS.
    Hypernym
    • FEARBAD FEELING IN-RELATION-TO what one BELIEVES to be a DANGER which one is TRYING to AVOID.
      • FEELINGNATURAL REACTION IN one's MIND.
        • REACTCHANGE one's THINKING OR ACTING BECAUSE one is PERCEIVING something.
          • CHANGEEVENT involving two MOMENTS t1 and t2, such that a THING at the MOMENT t1 is DIFFERENT FROM that THING at the MOMENT t2....
    Modern Chinese Criteria
    怯懦

    怯弱

    荏弱

    愚懦

    膽小

    膽虛

    膽怯

    卑怯

    怯生生

    唯唯

    心虛

    草雞

    窩囊

    沒種

    縮頭烏龜

    孬

    rough draft to BEGIN TO identify synonym group members for analysis, based on CL etc. 18.11.2003. CH ／

    • A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages ( BUCK 1988) p. 16.55

    • 韓非子同義詞研究 ( HANFEI TONGYI 2004) p. 335

    • Theophrast, Charaktere ( THEOPHRASTUS 1960) p. no. 25

    • SYNONYMES FRANÇOIS, LEURS DIFFÉRENTES SIGNIFICATIONS, ET LE CHOIX QU'IL EN FAUT FAIRE Pour parler avec justesse ( GIRARD 1769) p. 1.317.279

      LACHE.POLTRON

    • Bibliographisches Handbuch zur Sprachinhaltsforschung. Teil II. Systematischer Teil. B. Ordnung nach Sinnbezirken (mit einem alphabetischen Begriffsschluessel): Der Mensch und seine Welt im Spiegel der Sprachforschung ( FRANKE 1989) p. 48A

    Words

    怯  qiè OC: khab MC: khi̯ɐp 9 Attributions

      Word relations
    • Ant: 勇/COURAGE The standard general word for courage is yǒng 勇 (ant. nuò 懦 "pusillanimousness, chicken-liveredness"), which refers to positive boldness evinced in the face of danger or risk. Cf. fortitudo
    • Assoc: 懾/FEAR
    • Assoc: 愚/STUPID The dominant word is yú 愚 (ant. zhì 智 "clever; wise"), and the word refers to intellectual obtuseness as well as practical ineptitude.

      Syntactic words
    • v[adN]nonreferentialthe cowardly
    • vadNfearful; chicken-hearted; frightened
    • vilack courage where one ought to show courage, be pusillanimous, be prone to get frightened; generally: get frightened
    • vtoNbe fearful about and reluctant to, feel reticent to
    懦  nuò OC: nools MC: nʷɑ 5 Attributions

      Word relations
    • Assoc: 柔/SOFT The current standard word for anything pliable and soft is róu 柔, and I have found no competing words with related meanings.

      Syntactic words
    • vibe cowardly
    • vifigurative"cowardly and weak"
    怯懦  qiè nuò OC: khab nools MC: khi̯ɐp nʷɑ 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • VPibe cowardly
    懾怯  shè qiè MC: tsyep khjaep OC: kljeb khabLZ 1 Attribution
      Syntactic words
    • VPilack courage, be pusillanimous, be prone to get frightenedLZ
    無勇  wú yǒng OC: ma k-loŋʔ MC: mi̯o ji̯oŋ 0 Attributions
      Syntactic words
    • NPabfeaturelack of proper courage; lack of a courageous attitude (rather than cowardice)
    • VPibe timid; be cowardly

    Existing SW for

    Here are Syntactic Words already defined in the database: