cowering 1 of 2

cowering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of cower
as in cringing
to draw back or crouch down in fearful submission the abused dog always cowered in the presence of its master

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cowering
Verb
The staff member can be seen cowering down to fend off the attack and then turns and squares up to the irate passenger, who’s wearing a green colored top and army green pants. Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 29 Nov. 2024 The trauma of war is ever-present in Honda's vision, which sees citizens fleeing for their lives and cowering in the rubble of their homes. Katie Rife, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024 Neither do the cowering members of Slough House. Erik Kain, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024 Hence the obtuse rabbis, the cowering Uncle Yasha, and, in Aliyah of the 1990s, the naked Russian woman, presumably a prostitute, presenting herself doggy-style. Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowering
Adjective
  • Trump was demanding deference from Zelenskyy to show his inferior and submissive position as a recipient of U.S. aid and military support.
    Shannon Bow O'Brien, The Conversation, 25 Mar. 2025
  • Washington has become the court of Nero: an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers, and a buffoon on ketamine tasked with purging the civil service.
    Claude Malhuret, The Atlantic, 8 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Netanyahu appears convinced that his country’s security, along with his own political survival, depends on prolonging the military offensives and keeping both Gaza and Lebanon ungovernable, and therefore acquiescent.
    Mohanad Hage Ali, Foreign Affairs, 1 Nov. 2024
  • The young man’s comment was out of line, and my silence felt somehow acquiescent.
    Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 21 Sep. 2024
Adjective
  • Avoiding is unassertive and uncooperative, where an individual tends to give up on their own needs and acquiesce to the desires of others by disengaging from the situation altogether.
    Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Accommodating, which is unassertive and cooperative, prioritizes the needs and preferences of others over one’s own in order to maintain harmony.
    Ellen Choi, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • That’s because police have used the state of exception to sweep up street vendors, who’ve been much more compliant with eviction notices ever since.
    Gisela Salim-Peyer, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2025
  • In this case two individuals were within a few feet of an armed, non compliant individual.
    Christopher Cann, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • In recent weeks, a number of artists canceled planned appearances and resigned positions associated with the center.
    Julia Jacobs, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025
  • Some of the more jarring sequences remain amusing despite their brashness: At one point, for example, Mickey narrates a shocking vignette—about a psychopath on Earth who printed multiple copies of himself to carry out grisly murders—with the resigned, wary tone of an office worker.
    Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Critics of the Trump administration’s long-overdue attempt to degrade the Houthis’ capacity to disrupt international shipping (a terrorist initiative that is occasionally quite deferential to the West’s enemies in Beijing and Moscow) have made a variety of tendentious claims.
    The Editors, National Review, 18 Mar. 2025
  • As Zelensky tried to get a word in, Trump and Vance attack him for not being sufficiently deferential.
    Ted Johnson, Deadline, 1 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • These prices tend to reflect the higher yielding asking price versus the lower yielding bid price.
    Barnet Sherman, Forbes, 31 Dec. 2024
  • Net interest income for the quarter was $72.2 million, compared to $62.2 million in the previous year, driven by growth in higher yielding loans, primarily from CCBX.
    Quartz Bot, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024

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Cite this Entry

“Cowering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowering. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.

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