<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (February 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Cowardice is a trait wherein fear and excessive self - concern override doing or saying what is right, good, and of help to others or oneself in a time of need--it is the opposite of courage . As a label, "cowardice" indicates a failure of character in the face of a challenge . One who succumbs to cowardice is known as a coward, or informally a chicken . </P> <P> Many military codes of justice proscribe cowardice in combat as a crime punishable by death (note the phrase "shot at dawn"). </P> <P> As the opposite of an action or trait that many existing and formerly extant cultures demand, cowardice rates as a character flaw that many societies and their representatives stigmatize and / or punish . </P>

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