喜樂美語
  1. 1aB2/ˈkaʊərdli/ · /ˈkaʊədli/膽小的；懦弱的

    Not brave at all: too afraid to do what you know you should do. It is also used for an action that is unfair, because the person who does it stays safe while the person it hurts cannot answer back.

    示範例句 · Example

    Leo knew the answer, but he felt too cowardly to raise his hand in front of the whole class.

    逐字里歐知道答案，但他覺得自己太膽小，不敢在全班面前舉手。

    cowardly 講的是「知道該做，卻因為怕而沒去做」，所以它帶著責備的味道，中文常說「膽小」「懦弱」。它跟 scared、afraid 很容易搞混：scared、afraid 只是說當下心裡的感覺，每個人都會有，講出來很正常；cowardly 是在評價一個人的選擇，或評價一件事的做法——尤其是自己躲得好好的、被傷到的人卻沒辦法回話那種，英文就說 a cowardly act。這個字可以想成從 coward（膽小鬼）長出來，畫面就像一隻動物把尾巴夾在腿中間溜走。

    常見搭配

    • too cowardly to do something

      怕到不敢去做該做的事

      too afraid to do the thing you know you should do

      She was too cowardly to say what she really thought.

    • a cowardly act

      卑劣的行為

      an action that is unfair to someone who cannot answer back

      Leaving the smallest kid to clean up alone was a cowardly act.

    • it is cowardly (of someone) to do something

      （某人）做某事很懦弱

      used to say that an action was not brave

      It was cowardly of me not to own up to the mistake.

    • cowardly behaviour

      懦弱的行為

      the way someone acts when they will not face something

      Blaming his little sister was cowardly behaviour, and he knew it.

    • feel cowardly

      覺得自己很膽小

      to feel that you were not brave enough

      I felt cowardly for staying quiet when it was my turn to speak.

core核心畫面

You can picture someone who backs away from the thing they know they should face — and, because they stay out of reach, the danger lands on someone else instead.

一個人明知該站出來面對，卻往後退、躲到安全的地方。重點不只是「怕」——人怕是很正常的——而是怕到讓自己躲開，結果該承受的那一下就落到別人身上。這也是為什麼 cowardly 不只用來說人（膽小到不敢面對），也用來罵一件事情做得不光明：從背後偷襲、匿名寫惡意的信、五個人打一個，做的人全程都待在安全的位置，被打的那個卻沒有還手的餘地。

同家族的字

比較級 more cowardly最高級 most cowardly

原始詞典資料2 筆記錄

以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。

cowardlyadj/ˈkaʊədli/

  • 1

    Showing cowardice; lacking in courage; weakly fearful.

    • The cowardly rascals that ran from the battle.
    • 1780, Edmund Burke, speech at The Guildhall, in Bristol The cowardly rashness of those who dare not look danger in the face.

cowardlyadv/ˈkaʊədli/

  • 1

    archaicIn the manner of a coward, cowardlily.

    • We will not ſteale vpon him cowardly, But giue him warning and more warriours.
    • I love to follow them, but not so cowardly, as my life remaine thereby in subjection.

摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。