na-adjective, noun
cowardly; spineless; weak-willed
Formal or literary term describing a person's character as lacking courage or resolve. Rare in everyday speech; more common synonyms include 臆病 (おくびょう) or 弱気 (よわき).
彼は怯懦な態度で、誰にも反論できなかった。
With a cowardly attitude, he couldn't argue back against anyone.
その政治家は怯懦のそしりを免れなかった。
The politician could not escape the criticism of being spineless.
The kanji 怯 means 'fear' or 'cowardice', and 懦 means 'weak' or 'timid'. The compound is a Sino-Japanese word (kango) combining these two characters to express a lack of courage. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it follows a common pattern of pairing synonymous characters to form an abstract noun.