chicken-heart
1
8.9
- noun
- /ˈtʃɪkɪn hɑrt/
- Offensive
:
cobarde
- This came as a great shock to me because I had perceived this particular individual as a man of courage, a fierce martial warrior, not a chicken-heart.
Examples
-
Despite his tough appearance, he's really a chicken-heart when it comes to anything scary.
-
No, nothing but cold feet and chicken hearts, I told him, detailing the history for him as best I knew it.
Academic text (2010) -
When I thought more about it, however, I realized, "Well, the truth of this person is that he is a man of courage, and he is also a chicken-heart."
Academic text (2001) -
Remember that the whole point of Schrödinger's box is that when the lid is on the box, all of the possibilities are amalgamated—the yes and no, the man of courage versus the chicken-heart, success and failure—all are inside the box.
Academic text (2001) -
Everyone was excited to try the new roller coaster, but he was such a chicken-heart that he refused to get on.
-
She called him a chicken-heart for backing out of the plan to go hiking in the dark.
Synonyms
584
2.3
A person who is too afraid to face danger or hard things
301
8.4
A person who is easily frightened and not brave
21
9.9
A person or action that is cowardly and petty
3
7.4
A person who gets scared easily by not very dangerous things
How Brave
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Chicken-heart comes from the simple picture of a chicken, a bird known for being easily frightened, and heart, the part we think of as 'courage'. So calling someone a chicken-heart says their 'heart' is like a chicken's — weak and fearful — which is why it means a coward.