as in cowardly
having or showing a shameful lack of courage
a military commander who was so poltroon that he surrendered without having fired so much as a single shot
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in coward
a person who shows a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger
those poltroons in the state legislature who have caved in to bigotry on this important issue of basic civil rights
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of poltroon
Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 15 Jan. 2021
Noun
And there’s the awkward fact of Giuliani’s having failed, in spite of his most abject scheming, to manage to overturn the presidential election that Donald Trump lost to a wobbly poltroon on the edge of 80.
—Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 15 Jan. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for poltroon
Adjective
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Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack.Dan Perry, Newsweek, 17 Dec. 2024
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The cowardly cook will turn to squid as a replacement, but only cuttlefish deliver the essential alien squirm, and the relevant recipes are a treat.Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Noun
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But then Gi-hun could die looking down on him as both a dog and a coward.Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 26 Dec. 2024
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The Vikings are cowards who didn't take a viking ship.Nick Suss, The Tennessean, 4 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Mark Kelly Americans who are rightfully appalled by the pusillanimous response to anti-Semitism on college campuses have been pulling their donations and calling for restrictions on anti-Israel student groups.Arthur Levitt, WSJ, 12 Nov. 2023
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Those clumsy tales revealed Chazelle’s pusillanimous career ambitions.Armond White, National Review, 13 Jan. 2023
Adjective
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In need of a way to raise funds, but afraid of the political consequences of implementing new taxes, state lawmakers opted to experiment with a lottery.Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2025
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Some children might regress to an earlier stage of development, becoming afraid of going to school and leaving their parents.Jenny Gold, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The main one is that the powerbrokers in the MLB offices are craven, and their souls have been replaced with line graphs going up and up and up.Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 18 July 2024
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To keep Kiara's mind off things, Rafiki tells the story of young Mufasa (Aaron Pierre), who got washed away from his family by a huge flood and was saved by Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the prince of his pride who shows early signs of his craven nature and eventual heel turn as Scar.Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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There are about 60 games left and plenty of time to make up that kind of ground, especially in the AL West against the spineless Mariners and after getting through the Astros last year.Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic, 23 July 2024
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Don’t let our spineless lawmakers trick you at the ballot box.Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 28 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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For the 34th time in two years cops have been called by frightened neighbors or Hollis herself to quell the volcanic quarrels inside Peppermill Apartments unit B-312.Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2025
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My friends were confused by my abrupt stop and the frightened and befuddled look on my face — except for one, whose eyes were also bulging wide.Thomas Wheatley, Axios, 31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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The look features bright coral eyeshadow covering the eyelid, a fuchsia shade in the crease, and a swipe of fluorescent yellow eyeliner on the outside half of the eye and right under the brow.Andrea Park, Teen Vogue, 20 July 2017
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In addition to selling yellow mustard and hot sauce, the division makes ketchup, onion flavorings and other products.Nick Turner, Bloomberg.com, 19 July 2017
Thesaurus Entries Near poltroon
Cite this Entry
“Poltroon.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/poltroon. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
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