as in afraid
having or showing a shameful lack of courage
the pacifist was mistakenly accused of being a lily-livered coward
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Recent Examples of lily-livered
Contrary to the nationalist account, resistance has not generally been the result of America’s leaders being weak-kneed and lily-livered.
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Ronald R. Krebs, Foreign Affairs, 29 May 2017
Ronald R. Krebs, Foreign Affairs, 29 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lily-livered
Adjective
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The Starship Troopers actress is afraid of heights and was even called out by her instructors for always being terrified about the extreme assignments that she and the other celebrity recruits were given.EW.com, EW.com, 11 Jan. 2025
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Some children might regress to an earlier stage of development, becoming afraid of going to school and leaving their parents.Jenny Gold, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Mark Kelly Americans who are rightfully appalled by the pusillanimous response to anti-Semitism on college campuses have been pulling their donations and calling for restrictions on anti-Israel student groups.Arthur Levitt, WSJ, 12 Nov. 2023
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Those clumsy tales revealed Chazelle’s pusillanimous career ambitions.Armond White, National Review, 13 Jan. 2023
Adjective
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Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack.Dan Perry, Newsweek, 17 Dec. 2024
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The cowardly cook will turn to squid as a replacement, but only cuttlefish deliver the essential alien squirm, and the relevant recipes are a treat.Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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The main one is that the powerbrokers in the MLB offices are craven, and their souls have been replaced with line graphs going up and up and up.Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 18 July 2024
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To keep Kiara's mind off things, Rafiki tells the story of young Mufasa (Aaron Pierre), who got washed away from his family by a huge flood and was saved by Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the prince of his pride who shows early signs of his craven nature and eventual heel turn as Scar.Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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For the 34th time in two years cops have been called by frightened neighbors or Hollis herself to quell the volcanic quarrels inside Peppermill Apartments unit B-312.Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Jan. 2025
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My friends were confused by my abrupt stop and the frightened and befuddled look on my face — except for one, whose eyes were also bulging wide.Thomas Wheatley, Axios, 31 Oct. 2024
Adjective
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Zuckerberg blasts Biden admin on Joe Rogan; Dave Portnoy calls CEO ‘spineless jellyfish’ Robby Soave and Lynda Tran react to Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.The Hill, The Hill, 13 Jan. 2025
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There are about 60 games left and plenty of time to make up that kind of ground, especially in the AL West against the spineless Mariners and after getting through the Astros last year.Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic, 23 July 2024
Adjective
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Read Next Florida Shelter thought dog was scared — but something else was wrong.Simone Jasper, Miami Herald, 15 Jan. 2025
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Advertisement Thirty years ago, Blake was himself a scared kid.Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 15 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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And the really jaw-dropping part of AMLO’s gutless abdication?Tim Padgett, Sun Sentinel, 18 Aug. 2024
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Two baseballs flew down toward the San Diego Padres’ Jurickson Profar from the left-field corner stands, the gutless moves of two cowards.Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near lily-livered
Cite this Entry
“Lily-livered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lily-livered. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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