'Pusillanimous' means cowardly, timid, or lacking courage and determination. It comes from Latin roots meaning 'small-souled'. Option A 'cowardly' is the correct synonym. The distractors - 'stingy' (related to money, not courage), 'selfish' (related to putting oneself first, not fear), and 'punctual' (related to time, not bravery) - are all unrelated to the meaning of pusillanimous.