livered
3
9.9
- adjective
- /ˈlɪvərd/
- Offensive
:
pusilánime
- And still you wriggle away like the yellow-bellied, lily-livered coward that you are.
- lily-livered
- chicken-livered
- pigeon-livered
Examples
-
Come back, you lily-livered cowards!
-
What a white-livered little coward you are!
-
Some might say that this was too lily-livered.
Academic text (1995) -
Wait, wait, you lily-livered scoundrel!
-
You know I'm right, but you're just too lily-livered to say it for yourself.
Fiction book (1991) -
They want someone lily-livered and weak and spineless, like they are.
-
Faster, you lily-livered traitor!
-
You lily-livered punk!
-
Thou lily-livered boy.
-
Don't let anyone call you livered; stand up for what you believe in!
Synonyms
60
7.9
Not brave and easily frightened
5
7.9
Being too afraid to do things that need courage
3
9.9
Not brave and easily frightened
Very afraid and not willing to face danger
Antonyms
Compounds
How Cowardly
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Livered for 'cowardly' comes from an old idea that the liver was the place of courage, so someone with a weak or pale liver was called 'lily-livered' and seen as fearful. So livered came to mean lacking courage.