cowardice means lack of courage. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 70 out of 100.
cowardice is pronounced /ˈkaʊədɪs/.
Why “cowardice” is a great word
COWARDICE — [Noun] A lack of courage to face danger, difficulty, or pain. From Middle English cowardise, borrowed from Anglo-Norman cuardise (modern French couardise), from cuard (coward), which is of uncertain origin but often linked to the Latin cauda ("tail"), possibly alluding to an animal turning tail in flight. Unlike courage, which denotes the moral strength to confront, or timidity, which suggests a passive shyness, cowardice is the specific, active failure of nerve when confrontation is demanded. It is the cold sweat that freezes a helping hand, the deliberate silence when a voice is needed, and the precise, hollow relief of a disaster avoided by one's own inaction—a quiet ratification that one's safety is more valuable than one's soul.
noun
- Lack of courage.“The ſecond property of your excellent ſherris, is the vvarming of the blood, vvhich before (cold & ſetled) left the lyuer vvhite & pale, vvhich is the badge of puſilanimitie and covvardize: but the ſherris vvarmes it, and makes it courſe from the invvards to the partes extreames, […]”