recreant adj

1 having deserted a cause or principle; "some provinces had proved recreant"; "renegade supporters of the usurper" [syn: renegade]

2 lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful; "the craven fellow turned and ran"; "a craven proposal to raise the white flag"; "this recreant knight"- Spenser [syn: craven]

1 an abject coward [syn: poltroon, craven]

2 a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc. [syn: deserter, apostate, renegade, turncoat, ratter]

English

Etymology

Recreant has been in use in English as an adjective, meaning "confessing oneself to be overcome or vanquished," since the 14th century, from Old French recreant (yielding, giving), from the verb recroire "to yield in a trial by combat, surrender allegiance," from re- (again, back) + croire (to entrust, believe), from credere. The usage as a noun for a coward or faint-hearted was first recorded from the 15th century. The modern sense of "unfaithful to duty" is modern, first attested in 1643 (OED).

Adjective

1. Disloyal, unfaithful, surrendering allegiance.
2. Cowardly, craven

Quotations

• 1793, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel

  And let the recreant traitors seek

  My tourney court

Derived terms

• recreance
• recreancy
• recreantly

Noun

1. Somebody who is recreant. A person who yields in combat, or is cowardly and faint-hearted.

Synonyms

• apostate
• coward
• deserter
• poltroon
• renegade
• turncoat

Dutch

Etymology

from Latin recreans, present participle of recreare 'to refresh, envigorate'

Noun

1. Somebody who practices, or enjoys recreation.

References

Sabbath-breaker, apostate, arrant coward, atheist, atheistic, backslider, backsliding, bad egg, bad lot, base, black sheep, blackguardly, blasphemer, blasphemous, bolter, caitiff, collaborationist, collaborative, collaborator, convert, craven, dastard, dastardly, defector, degenerate, degraded, derelict, deserter, disaffected, disloyal, dunghill, dunghilly, faithless, fallen, fallen angel, fallen from grace, false, fickle, fifth columnist, impious, inconstant, infamous, irreligious, irreverent, knavish, lapsed, lecher, lost sheep, lost soul, miscreant, mugwump, not true to, notorious, of bad faith, perfidious, pervert, pimp, poltroon, poltroonish, profanatory, profane, profligate, proselyte, pusillanimous, quisling, rascally, rat, recidivist, recidivistic, renegade, renegado, renegate, reprobate, reversionist, roguish, runagate, sacrilegious, sacrilegist, scampish, scapegrace, schismatic, scoundrelly, seceder, secessionist, separatist, sneak, sorry lot, strikebreaker, tergiversant, tergiversating, tergiversator, traitor, traitorous, treacherous, treasonable, treasonous, trollop, trothless, turnabout, turncoat, turntail, unbeliever, undutiful, unfaithful, unloyal, unsteadfast, untrue, vile, villainous, whore