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Someone who is proud of himself, his moral values etc. however who is a coward in his general approach, related to anything in which he could get involved with, since he avoids most situations.

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    It would be interesting to see if anyone will come up with a single word. For me, it seems like coward and proud don't go together well enough (so I'd need at least two words).
    – Damkerng T.
    May 31, 2014 at 17:56
  • I don't know. It seemed to me they go together well. Someone with an attitude (of being proud), however, who is empty inside (kind of), just like a coward.
    – user76935
    May 31, 2014 at 21:50
  • That would sound like a hypocrite to me, but I think it's not what you're looking for.
    – Damkerng T.
    May 31, 2014 at 22:32
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    There is probably a very long greco-roman word for something like that, can you give more context, are you writing something and need some good words for it?
    – weevil
    Jun 3, 2014 at 15:09

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American English (not familiar with usage elsewhere in the world) tends to assume that someone who is proud and a coward will also brag a lot, talking about how great they are to make themselves sound better than the are. There is a connotation that these people are overly proud of themselves, and an implication that they are cowards, because only a coward would need to boast about skill/experience/bravery they don't have. So there is no word that means "Proud coward" but a lot of words or phrases that would give that meaning in context.

  • braggadocious (adj from braggadocio)--boastful but hiding weakness
  • Blusterer--someone who 'talks big' but never does anything

Common phrases include:

  • he has a big ego but nothing to back it up
  • she's full of false pride
  • he's all talk
  • she's nothing but hot air
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