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
Example 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
-
Instead, the anti-death penalty interests in this country conduct their arguments in insidious and even cowardly ways, all in effort to avoid a clear yes or no debate about the death penalty itself.—
Benedict Cosgrove,
Newsweek,
18 Dec. 2024
-
Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack.—
Dan Perry,
Newsweek,
17 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
McGee, Knight, and Torres step onto the Elevator of Schemes and Secrets full of speculation, like why is LaRoche interested in scoring political points with this case, and what kind of coward hides behind a fake name anyway?—
Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
17 Dec. 2024
-
This sick, twisted and evil coward showed no regard for Laken or human life.—
Audrey Conklin,
Fox News,
21 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
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
-
Those clumsy tales revealed Chazelle’s pusillanimous career ambitions.—
Armond White,
National Review,
13 Jan. 2023
Adjective
-
Just look at the Salem Witch Trials, which targeted people who weren’t afraid to live somewhat unconventional lives, like women who were financially-independent or unmarried.—
Roya Backlund,
StyleCaster,
24 Jan. 2025
-
Democrats and Republicans are afraid that their civil rights and their civil liberties are in jeopardy and look to the courts to protect their 14th and 15th Amendment rights.—
John Yoo and John Shu,
Newsweek,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Between the lines: One view is that these actions are simply craven pandering.—
Felix Salmon,
Axios,
13 Jan. 2025
-
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
Adjective
-
Zuckerberg blasts Biden admin on Joe Rogan; Dave Portnoy calls CEO ‘spineless jellyfish’ Robby Soave and Lynda Tran react to Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.—
The Hill,
The Hill,
13 Jan. 2025
-
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
Adjective
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Growers reported a drop in workers showing up to their jobs, and advocacy groups saw a surge of frightened families show up to legal workshops on how to protect themselves against deportation.—
Rachel Uranga,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Jan. 2025
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When Julia arrived with a can of cat food, the first kitten had already been adopted, but the second—a frightened and feisty tabby—was still there.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
12 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
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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Three prominent Austin chefs teamed up with the Youngblood family to build a new restaurant from scratch that looks like a legacy chicken dinner house, down to the bright blue-and-yellow colors and the helpings of hot yeast rolls with honey.—
Bud Kennedy,
star-telegram,
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 2 Feb. 2025.
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