different between cowardly vs sordid

English

Etymology

From Middle English *cowardli (adjective) and couardli (adverb), equivalent to coward +? -ly. Displaced native Old English earg.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ka??dli/

Adjective

cowardly (comparative cowardlier or more cowardly, superlative cowardliest or most cowardly)

1. Showing cowardice; lacking in courage; weakly fearful.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cowardly

   • 1780, Edmund Burke, speech at The Guildhall, in Bristol

     The cowardly rashness of those who dare not look danger in the face.

Derived terms

• cowardlily

Translations

Adverb

cowardly (comparative more cowardly, superlative most cowardly)

1. (archaic) In the manner of a coward, cowardlily.

Translations

English

Etymology

Latin sordidus, from sord?re (“be dirty”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??.d?d/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s??d?d/
• Homophone: sorted (in some varieties)

Adjective

sordid (comparative sordider, superlative sordidest)

1. Distasteful, ignoble, vile, or contemptible.
2. Dirty or squalid.
3. Morally degrading.
   • 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl

     He rode slowly home along the deserted road, watching the stars come out in the clear violet sky. They flashed softly into the limpid heavens, like jewels let fall into clear water. They were a reproach, he felt, to a sordid world.

   • 1994, The Lion King, Be Prepared musical number:

     I know it sounds sordid but you'll be rewarded, when at last I've been given my dues.

   • 2006, John C. Roberts, concurrence and dissent in part in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 548 U.S. 399 (2006)

     It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race.

4. Grasping; stingy; avaricious.
5. Of a dull colour.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:greedy, Thesaurus:unclean

Derived terms

• sordidity
• sordidly
• sordidness

Translations

Anagrams

• 'droids, disord, dorids, droids

Estonian

Noun

sordid

1. nominative plural of sort

Romanian

Etymology

From French sordide, from Latin sordidus.

Adjective

sordid m or n (feminine singular sordid?, masculine plural sordizi, feminine and neuter plural sordide)

1. sordid

Declension