What does craven mean?
Craven is a strongly pejorative adjective meaning cowardly in a contemptible way. To call a person or an action craven is to accuse it of a shameful lack of courage — a failure to stand up, speak out, or act when duty or principle demands it. The word carries more moral condemnation than ordinary synonyms like timid or shy: a craven refusal suggests betrayal of one's own convictions out of fear. It appears most often in formal writing and journalism, commonly paired with nouns such as behavior, surrender, capitulation, or silence. Craven also survives as a rare literary noun meaning simply "a coward." The word entered Middle English from Old French, where a related term meant defeated or overpowered, which suits its sense well: the craven person behaves as though beaten before the contest has even begun. Its adverb and noun-of-quality forms are cravenly and cravenness.
Cowardly; showing a contemptible lack of courage.
"The government's craven silence on the scandal angered voters."
Almost always pejorative and formal; often used attributively before nouns like behavior, refusal, or surrender.
A coward (archaic or literary).
""Go back to your kennel, craven!" she shouted."
Now rare outside literary or deliberately archaic prose.
Applies only to the rare noun sense meaning "a coward"; used almost exclusively in literary contexts.
"The poem scorns the cravens who fled the battlefield."
"Craven" may come from an Old French word meaning 'defeated' — so a craven person is literally someone who has already lost the fight before it began.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of craven
Craven came into Middle English in the medieval period from Anglo-Norman and Old French, where forms such as cravant meant defeated or vanquished; its deeper origin is uncertain, though it has been connected to Old French cravanter, "to crush or overcome." It originally described someone who had been overcome — hence, by extension, one who gives up without a fight. The adjective remains current in both British and American English, while the older noun use now sounds archaic or literary.
Related word forms
How craven is actually used
"Craven" is a formal, literary-sounding adjective with a strongly pejorative tone — it implies not just fear but shameful, contemptible cowardice. It typically modifies abstract nouns like behavior, refusal, surrender, or silence rather than describing everyday nervousness. The noun use ("a craven") survives mainly in literary contexts.
Easily confused with craven
"Craven" means cowardly, while "craving" is a noun meaning an intense desire for something.
A "cravat" is a neckband or scarf worn around the neck; "craven" describes cowardliness.