Take the tour ×  I recently discovered that cowardly, which
looks like an adverb, is actually also an adjective. So far so
good. Then what is the difference between cowardly and coward,
and is there any preferential usage of either?  share|improve
this question add comment  1 Answer  The difference is that
cowardly is usually an adjective, while coward is almost always
a noun. Hence:  That dog is a coward. That cowardly dog runs at
the sound of hooves.  In the rare cases that coward is an
adjective, it is always prepositive (directly before the noun):
That coward dog just turned tail.   That dog is coward. (Coward
is not prepositive - before the noun - hence this is wrong)  As
to meaning differences (I've been dealing with usage), you would
use cowardly if you weren't necessarily name-calling or venting;
the term sounds more objective. You could quietly use it,
without strong feelings. Coward, on the other hand, always
connotes strong feelings. If you use coward as an adjective, I'm
more likely to think you