The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word TIMOROUS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
I
M
O
R
O
U
S
More clues leading to the result TIMOROUS
- Cowardly old Italian PM wearing outfit the wrong way round
- Island where French succeeded in retiring
- Afraid, when climbing, to pass over most of fire
- Miss rising and almost get up after retiring
- Part of Indonesia — nothing America finds fearful
- Drop back before short stir, lacking courage
- Cooked our moist chicken
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Cowardly" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cowardly = timorous.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does TIMOROUS mean?
TIMOROUS adjective- Fearful; afraid; timid