Hamlet vocabulary

He made no empty promises, nor the craven excuse that his hands were tied by more powerful forces in the world than himself.

Mario Puzo. The Godfather, p.13 (1969)

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Ted was then chased by a dog, fortunately a small and cowardly dog; by grabbing a woman's bathing suit off a clothesline and lashing the dog in the face with it, Ted drove the craven animal away.

John Irving. A Widow for One Year, p.115 (1998)

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though he be a cock of the game, yet Euphues is content to be craven and cry creek, though Curio be old huddle and twang, ipse, yet Euphues had rather shrink in the wetting than waste in the wearing.

John Lyly. Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578)

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That capability and god-like reason To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple

Of thinking too precisely on the event, A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom

William Shakespeare. Hamlet