🇬🇧🇪🇸 cower - encogerse : English Lesson

Meaning of "cower" ("encogerse"), detailed definition, and a short video lesson below.

To cower means to bend your body down, pull yourself in, and sometimes step back because you’re really scared or nervous. When you cower, you might hunch your shoulders, cover your head, or hide behind something, like a chair or a friend, to protect yourself from what’s frightening you.

Watch and listen to this English flashcard to understand the word in more detail, with an easy example sentence.

The aliens didn’t cower at Earth’s armies—they cowered when they saw a toddler having a meltdown in the supermarket.

The superhero never cowers from villains, but he does cower when his mom shouts his middle name.

At the school play, the “terrifying” monster cowered in the corner because someone in the audience kept yelling, “You’re adorable!”

When the thunder boomed, my dog didn’t just cower—he also tried to hide under a rug that was smaller than his head.

Some tiny animals, like mice, cower to look smaller so predators might ignore them—basically nature’s way of saying, “Nothing to eat here, just a nervous pea.”

The storm struck. A small dog begins to cower under the bed, eyes wide. Each crash makes it cower; each flash makes it cower again. The child holds a blanket, trying to calm it so it will not cower, and crouches to cower with the dog. When the thunder passes, the dog lifts its head and wags.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

Expanding your English vocabulary is one of the best ways to improve your pronunciation, spelling, and confidence in English. Watch the video above to memorize the word, understand its meaning, and see example sentences in action. Discover related words to grow your vocabulary naturally. Add words to your playlist for stress-free, effective learning—anytime, anywhere! Watch, learn, repeat.