怯きょう懦だ

きょ

う

だ

Meanings

formal or literary

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).

彼かれは怯きょう懦だな態たい度どで、誰だれにも反はん論ろんできなかった。
With a cowardly attitude, he couldn't argue back against anyone.
その政せい治じ家かは怯きょう懦だのそしりを免まぬかれなかった。
The politician could not escape the criticism of being spineless.

Kanji

怯cowardice, wince, flinch
懦weakness, cowardice

Related words

臆おく病びょう
Common word for cowardice or timidity; used in everyday contexts. 怯懦 is a much rarer, formal/literary synonym.
弱よわ気き
Means weak-willed or bearish; more common than 怯懦 but still somewhat formal. 怯懦 carries a stronger literary and negative moral judgment.

Opposites

武ぶ勇ゆう
怯懦 means cowardice, the direct literary opposite of the martial courage expressed by 武勇.

Written forms

怯きょう懦だUsage94%
Literary kanji form; rarely used in modern writing. The word itself is formal and uncommon.
きょうだUsage6%

Etymology

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.