cowardly: implies a weak or ignoble lack of courage: the ~ retreat of the army. ignoble不光彩，表示缺乏普通人的美德


pusillanimous: suggests contemptible timidity or lack of courage: ~ politicians feared crossing him. cross


gutless:close to cowardly, is informal and considered by some to be not entirely polite: a ~ coward.    （guts表示内脏,还表示勇气,可能有人会觉得不礼貌，如lacked the guts to pull it off没有勇气把这件事圆满完成，to pull it off表示做成某事，如you will grasp the English vocabulary if you can pull it off如果你能完成，就能掌握英语词汇 ）



craven: suggests extreme faintheartedness and lack of resistance: secretly despised the ~ toadies around her.  faint微弱虚弱having no strength or intensity，如faint light/breath/voice/smile/resistance/hope微弱或虚弱的光线/呼吸/声音/微笑/抵抗/希望



dastardly: implies behavior that is both cowardly and despicably treacherous or outrageous: a ~ attack on unarmed civilians.  

(treacherous背叛的，outrageous冒犯无礼令人惊讶的=shocking，如I must apologize for my outrageous behavior我必须为自己极端无礼的行为道歉）



cowardly胆怯: 表现得软弱不光彩，pusillanimous胆怯: 让人蔑视的胆怯，gutless:，craven胆怯: 表示极度胆小，毫不抵抗，dastardly既凶残又胆怯:  用违反良知的手段做坏事，显得既凶残又胆怯



记忆方法: 1）首字母CPGCD想成CC GDP处处GPD<==胆怯      只考虑经济，就会丧失勇气勇敢


         2）胆怯的意思是缺乏勇气mean having or showing a lack of courage.