Cowardice is a lack of bravery. Running screaming away from your Uncle Marvin in a clown mask will betray your cowardice — particularly if you're not a child.
The opposite of courageousness is cowardice. For example, not standing up for someone who's being bullied shows cowardice. The origin of the words coward and cowardice has been traced to the Latin word for "tail," coda, showing a connection with a popular phrase that describes cowardice: "walking away with their tails between their legs."
