Skip to main content
fraidy-cat

fraidy-cat

3 8.1
A person who gets scared easily
  • noun
  • /ˈfreɪdiˌkæt/
  • Informal
translation icon : cobarde
  • Don't be such a fraidy-cat.
  • a little fraidy-cat

Examples

Synonyms

chicken
vsfraidy-cat
  • Offensive
301 8.4

A person who is easily frightened and not brave

focuses on being easily frightened rather than general lack of courage
jessie
vsfraidy-cat
  • UK
141 9.9

A person who is too easily frightened to try new things

is more child-focused and used across dialects rather than mainly British
fraidy
vsfraidy-cat
  • Informal
5 9.9

Feeling afraid easily, often by sudden or loud things

is used mainly to talk about children rather than adults
scaredy-cat
vsfraidy-cat
  • Offensive
3 7.4

A person who gets scared easily by not very dangerous things

is used for any easily frightened person, not only in minor dangers
fearer
vsfraidy-cat
7.4

A person who often feels scared of things like heights or crowds

is more informal and childish, not just any person who feels fear

How Timid

coward
  • Offensive
584 2.3
fraidy-cat
  • Informal
3 8.1
fraidy
  • Informal
1 9.9

Surface Forms

fraidy-cat singular
fraidy-cats plural

Morphology

fraidy-cat = fraidy + cat (transparent) = fraidy + cat

A colloquial compound of 'fraidy' + 'cat' whose meaning 'a person easily frightened' is directly derived from its parts.

Etymology

Fraidy-cat comes from the short form afraid (meaning 'scared') plus cat, a playful name like scaredy-cat used to tease someone for being easily scared. So, it means a person, often a child, who is easily frightened.