cower
verb
intransitive verb
George Orwell
Synonyms
- cringe
- grovel
- quail
Example Sentences
Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 28 June 2022 Would my clients, followers and potential clients all want to cower at home for the rest of their lives? Regan Hillyer, Forbes, 1 June 2022 In Thom Browne’s new childrenswear campaign, photographed by Cass Bird, a pair of youths exaggeratedly cower in mock fear as an enormous dachshund is poised to leap in their direction. Vogue, 7 Apr. 2022 The house has no basement, so the occupants had nothing to do but cower and watch planes and the white, blinking, popping dots of bombs going off like fireworks in the sky. Steve Knopper, Billboard, 20 Mar. 2022 Hutter has heard stories of the mysterious Orlok, mostly from locals who cower at the mere mention of the Count’s name. Mike Postalakis, SPIN, 1 Mar. 2022 And Crewe insiders promise that the energy of the their bash inside the Mobile Civic Center will cause even The Kraken to cower. al, 6 Feb. 2022 The video from inside Oxford High School on Tuesday afternoon is chilling: Students cower together in the back of a classroom, hiding as an armed gunman rips through the halls, killing four and injuring seven others. Kristen Jordan Shamus, USA TODAY, 2 Dec. 2021 The video from inside Oxford High School on Tuesday afternoon is chilling: Students cower together in the back of a classroom, hiding as an armed gunman rips through the halls, killing four and injuring eight others. Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, 1 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
Middle English couren, probably from Middle Low German kūren
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
cower
verb
cower
verb
Synonyms & Similar Words
- cringe
- flinch
- grovel
- recoil
- quail
- blanch
- fawn
- shrink
- blench
- kowtow
- whiten
- toady
- squinch
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of cower are cringe, fawn, toady, and truckle. While all these words mean "to behave abjectly before a superior," cower suggests a display of abject fear in the company of threatening or domineering people.
The synonyms cringe and cower are sometimes interchangeable, but cringe suggests a bowing or shrinking in fear or servility.
While in some cases nearly identical to cower, fawn implies seeking favor by servile flattery or exaggerated attention.
In some situations, the words toady and cower are roughly equivalent. However, toady suggests the attempt to ingratiate oneself by an abjectly menial or subservient attitude.
Although the words truckle and cower have much in common, truckle implies the subordination of oneself and one's desires or judgment to those of a superior.