Craven Meaning
/ˈkɹeɪ.vən/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjUnwilling to fight; lacking even the rudiments of courage; extremely cowardly.
nounA coward.
Sentence Examples
I never knew Tom was such a craven bootlicker.
The president is too craven to tackle this problem.
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The knight called his opponent ____ for fleeing the battlefield without fighting.
Word Origin & History
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”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The poor craven bridegroom said never a word."
— 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “(please specify the introduction or canto number, or chapter name)”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC:
"Prime Minister Abe's fumbling and craven performance took place on a national holiday in Korea, marking the countrywide uprising against the Japanese colonial rule that began on March 1, 1919. March 1 is also the day in 1932 that Japan chose to inaugurate Manchukuo (after seizing northeastern China)."
— 2010, Bruce Cumings, The Korean War:
"“But they’ve made some big carve-outs that are just absolute nonsense. There’s no perfect approach to content moderation, but they could at least try to look less transparently craven and incoherent.”"
— 2020 October 12, Andrew Marantz, quoting Dave Willner, “Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself”, in The New Yorker:
"The PP has seized on the possibility of an amnesty to rally support and to portray the PSOE leader as craven, dependent on Catalan separatists and hellbent on remaining in office."
— 2023 September 26, Sam Jones, “Spain elections: Feijóo launches doomed bid to lead country”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
"Now, I hold no candle for the train operators, and I think that in the main they have been far too craven about any government proposals. But in this instance, they have been badly traduced, led up the hill, and then chucked back down it."
— 2023 November 15, Christian Wolmar, “Ministers should carry the can for ticket office fiasco”, in RAIL, number 996, page 47:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The knight called his opponent ____ for fleeing the battlefield without fighting.