“Craven” is an adjective that means completely lacking courage; it describes someone who is too afraid to take action, especially when bravery is needed.
In everyday life, you might hear, “He made a craven apology just to avoid any conflict,” or “It was a craven move to blame the intern instead of owning the mistake.” People use it when they want to call out behavior that seems not just scared, but shamefully so.
Meaning & Usage Examples
Example 1: “The craven manager hid in his office while the team handled the angry client.”
Example 2: “Voting against the bill after publicly supporting it was seen as craven.”
Context / Common Use
“Craven” shows up in news articles, sports talk, and social media rants when someone backs down from a fight, breaks a promise out of fear, or throws others under the bus to stay safe. It’s stronger than “cowardly” and carries a tone of contempt.
Is “craven” a common word?
It’s not everyday vocabulary, but it appears in headlines and opinion pieces when the writer wants to sound sharp and disapproving.
Can “craven” be a noun?
Yes. You can say, “He’s a craven,” meaning “He’s a coward,” though the adjective form is more frequent.
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