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.
—
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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His untraditional views attracted the attention of health journalists eager to hear more about the quick-talking, engaging surgeon who wasn’t afraid of discussing such unprecedented strategies.—
Alice Park,
TIME,
13 Mar. 2025
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Inside the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, vital support staff are gone, international partnerships have been strained, and workers are afraid to discuss threats to democracy that they’re now prohibited from countering.—
Eric Geller,
WIRED,
13 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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There was no fanfare — indeed no announcement or change in Oscar rules — but a firestorm of controversy resulted, followed by the Academy’s cowardly, pusillanimous silence on the issue.—
Armond White,
National Review,
5 Mar. 2025
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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
Adjective
-
Denying students access to our complete history is fundamentally cowardly.—
Britt Hogue,
Baltimore Sun,
26 Feb. 2025
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Two beloved members of the Tijuana journalism community were killed in two separate cowardly attacks.—
Tania Navarro,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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In any event Marshall, a craven idiot, is a raucous, vulgar sendup of the bedrock American principle of Manifest Destiny.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
7 Mar. 2025
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Actors as skillful as Ruffalo and Toni Collette, the craven leader Marshall’s imperious wife, come off pretty pushy here.—
Michael Phillips,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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Inside, the staff scrambles for cover and a frightened woman and child are seen hiding behind a buffet counter.—
Mark Price,
Miami Herald,
11 Mar. 2025
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Staying apolitical in his work, Lynch expressed the personal idiosyncrasy that reflected his upbringing in Midwest America (born in Missoula, Mont., and of Finnish-Danish heritage) as well as his private, frightened knowledge of national terror.—
Armond White,
National Review,
17 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Musk and Trump must be stopped before more Americans are killed, and only those spineless Republicans in Congress can stop them.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
4 Mar. 2025
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His spineless vice president and defense secretary then echoed Trump’s garbage.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
31 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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As the scream queen, there’s a role that Sam’s character can play, either angry at Paul, fighting back, or super scared.—
Barry Levitt,
Rolling Stone,
15 Mar. 2025
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TikTok is eating our lunch, and executives are scared.—
Brian Davids,
The Hollywood Reporter,
13 Mar. 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
Cite this Entry
“Lily-livered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lily-livered. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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