Standard Lemma guide

craven

adj · name · noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈkɹeɪ.vən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -eɪvən
  • CMU ARPABET: K R EY1 V AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Unwilling to fight; lacking even the rudiments of courage; extremely cowardly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: backboneless, base, bitch-ass, boneless, caitiff, candy-assed, chicken, chicken-hearted, chicken-livered, chickenshit, courageless, cowardish, cowardly, cowardy, cowhearted, cowish, craven, cravenhearted, cringey, dastard, dastardly, dickless, dough-faced, fainthearted, fearful, fraidy, gizzardless, heartless, invalorous, invertebrate, gutless, hen-hearted, kiasi, lily-livered, liver-faced, liver-hearted, low-hearted, miching, milky, milk-livered, mouse-hearted, mousy, nerveless, niddering, nidering, niding, nithing, nutless, pigeon-livered, poltroonish, poor-spirited, punk, pusillanimous, pussylike, ratlike, rabbit-hearted, recrayed, retromingent, sissy, spineless, timid, timorous, unhearty, weak-kneed, white-hearted, white-livered, wimpish, yellow, yellow-bellied

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

name

Meaning 3

A former local government district in North Yorkshire, England, merged in 2023 into the North Yorkshire unitary authority.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

name

Meaning 4

A village in the Rural Municipality of Longlaketon No. 219, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

name

Meaning 5

A locality in the MidCoast council area, eastern New South Wales, Australia.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A coward.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bottler, caitiff, candy-ass, candy-arse, coistril, coward, chicken, chicken liver, chickenshit, cocktail, cowardy custard, craven, dog, fraidy cat, funker, gutless wonder, invertebrate, jessie, lizard, milquetoast, nancy, niddering, nidering, nidget, niding, nithing, piece of crap, piece of shit, pisspants, poltroon, pullet, punk, pussy, pussyhole, quiche-eater, quakebreech, quakebuttock, recreant, scaredy cat, scaredy pants, shithouse, sissy, slag, sluggard, snool, sook, weak sister, wheyface, yellow belly, yellow back

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To make craven.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

adjective satellite

Meaning 8

lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful- Spenser

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the craven fellow turned and ran
  • a craven proposal to raise the white flag
  • this recreant knight

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: recreant

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

an abject coward

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: poltroon, recreant

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: coward

History

Etymology

From Middle English cravant, either borrowed from Old French cravanté (“defeated”), past participle of cravanter (ultimately from Latin crepare), or a modification of creaunt (“defeated”) after craven (“to crave”).

From Proto-Brythonic; equivalent to Welsh craf (“garlic”) + the suffix -an. Compare Cremona.

Across languages

Translations

40 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: страхлив (strahliv) — extremely cowardly
  • Czech: zbabělý — extremely cowardly
  • Dutch: lafhartig — extremely cowardly
  • Esperanto: malkuraĝa — extremely cowardly
  • Esperanto: poltrona — extremely cowardly
  • Finnish: pelkurimainen — extremely cowardly
  • French: lâche — extremely cowardly
  • German: feige — extremely cowardly
  • Irish: meata — extremely cowardly
  • Macedonian: мало́душен (malódušen) — extremely cowardly
  • Macedonian: пла́шлив (plášliv) — extremely cowardly
  • Portuguese: covarde — extremely cowardly
  • Russian: малоду́шный (malodúšnyj) — extremely cowardly
  • Serbo-Croatian: Kukavica — extremely cowardly
  • Serbo-Croatian: plašljivac — extremely cowardly
  • Spanish: cobarde — extremely cowardly
  • Swedish: feg — extremely cowardly
  • Swedish: mesig — extremely cowardly
  • Ukrainian: малоду́шний (malodúšnyj) — extremely cowardly
  • Yiddish: פּחדניש (pakhdonish) — extremely cowardly
  • Bulgarian: страхливец (strahlivec) — coward
  • Czech: zbabělec — coward
  • Finnish: pelkuri — coward
  • French: couard — coward
  • French: lâche — coward
  • German: Feigling — coward
  • German: feiger Hund — coward
  • Icelandic: heigull — coward
  • Icelandic: raggeit — coward
  • Icelandic: bleyða — coward
  • Irish: meatachán — coward
  • Macedonian: пла́шливец (plášlivec) — coward
  • Macedonian: стра́шливец (strášlivec) — coward
  • Macedonian: кука́вица (kukávica) — coward
  • Portuguese: covarde — coward
  • Scottish Gaelic: gealtaire — coward
  • Spanish: cobarde — coward
  • Swedish: mes — coward
  • Swedish: feg stackare — coward
  • Turkish: korkak — coward
Real reading context

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