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yellow

yellow

11 7.9
Not brave and easily frightened
  • adjective
  • /ˈjɛloʊ/
  • Offensive
: cobarde
  • Gaffney turned yellow and is hiding out.

Examples

  • I haven't heard anyone insult someone like that since Lars Svensson accused Erik the Red of being a coward and called him yellow.

  • You're a miserable, yellow coward, Mr. Shipman

  • Yellow like your cowardly selves.

  • When faced with a challenge, he often turns yellow and avoids confrontation.

  • She called him yellow when he refused to speak up for his friend.

  • Feeling yellow, he backed away from the spooky haunted house.

Synonyms

chicken
vsyellow
  • Offensive
47 7.2

Easily frightened and not willing to take risks

is the standard adjective meaning lacking courage or fearful
yellow-bellied
vsyellow
  • Offensive
4 7.9

Being too afraid to do things that need courage

is a general term for lacking courage and easily frightened
lily-livered
vsyellow
  • Offensive
4 9.9

Not brave and easily frightened

is a modern, neutral term rather than archaic wording
chickenhearted
vsyellow
  • Offensive
1 8.9

Being very easily frightened and not brave

is a broader label for showing fear rather than bravery
white-livered
vsyellow
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Very afraid and not willing to face danger

is the more general word without the extra intensity

Antonyms

860 1.0

Has courage when facing danger, pain or fear

117 3.4

Shows courage in dangerous or hard situations

Idioms

To start a journey into the unknown that brings adventure and personal change

Compounds

yellow pages
  • Archaic
26 1.8

A book of local businesses and services printed on yellow paper

17 1.0

A very strong yellow color that is easy to see

yellow fever
  • Specialized
12 3.7

A serious disease spread by mosquitoes that makes the skin turn yellow

9 7.2

A path toward a dream that has problems and surprises

7 1.8

A traffic signal that warns drivers to slow down and prepare to stop

6 1.0

A light yellow colour that looks soft and not bright

5 2.1

A taxi painted yellow seen in cities like New York

yellow-bellied
  • Offensive
4 7.9

Being too afraid to do things that need courage

code yellow
  • Jargon
4 6.8

An alert warning people about a specific emergency, for example bad weather or a missing person

3 2.5

A bright yellow like the outside of a lemon

2 3.4

The second-longest river in northern China that flows east to the Yellow Sea and has yellow mud

A bright yellow color like a canary's feathers

yellow journalism
  • Literature
2 5.2

Reporting that exaggerates and uses shocking stories to attract readers while ignoring the truth

2 2.7

A long yellow vegetable with soft skin that you cook and eat

2 1.1

A color between yellow and green like young leaves

A warm yellow color like gold

1 3.6

A small aggressive wasp with yellow and black stripes that often builds nests in the ground

1 1.7

A light green color that looks partly yellow

A bright light yellow color like a canary's feathers

With yellow lines on the surface, often on animals or objects

Having yellow spots on its surface

1 2.5

A pale white color with a little yellow

A small woodpecker with a pale yellow belly that drills rows of holes in trees to eat sap and insects

yellow ocher
  • Specialized
1 6.7

A natural yellow pigment from earth used for painting

A yellow color with a little green

1 9.9

An old racist idea that East Asian people threaten Western countries

A bright yellow color with a small touch of orange

1 2.0

A brownish yellow color like dry autumn leaves

A color between yellow and orange, like a sunset

1 5.1

A freshwater fish with a yellow body and dark stripes, caught for food and sport

A color between brown and yellow

A pale yellow color like cream

yellow metal
  • Specialized
1 7.8

A strong metal made from copper with extra zinc used for cast parts

1 2.4

A strong, intense yellow like a ripe pumpkin

yellow man
  • Slur
1 9.9

A rude and racist word for an Asian man

1 6.1

A North American tree with thin shiny yellow or gray bark and strong wood

chrome yellow
  • Archaic
1 8.5

A bright yellow paint made from lead and used for painting

cadmium yellow
  • Specialized
1 8.3

A bright yellow pigment made from cadmium used in painting that is poisonous

1 3.5

A pine tree that has hard yellowish wood people use for building and furniture

yellow bile
  • Archaic
1 9.9

An old medical idea that a fluid from the liver makes people angry

1 2.2

A shade of yellow, like pale or bright yellow

yellow dwarf
  • Specialized
1 8.7

A plant virus that makes leaves turn yellow and plants stay small

1 9.9

An agreement where a worker promises not to join a union

yellow journalist
  • Literature
1 7.7

A reporter who writes exaggerated or shocking stories to attract readers

1 3.7

A grey color with a little yellow in it

1 5.8

A small bright yellow bird that sings near streams and marshes

A European weed with spines and yellow flowers that invades fields

A yellow color with a little brown that looks warm and dull

yellow-fever mosquito
  • Specialized
1 6.2

A small biting insect that spreads yellow fever and dengue

A large pine tree from the southeastern United States with long needles and rough reddish bark used for timber

yellow bass
  • Specialized
1 7.7

A small freshwater fish with yellowish colour that looks like a striped bass

1 9.9

A sticky desert plant with hanging yellow flowers

1 1.6

A long thin vegetable with yellow pods that you eat

A large woodpecker with yellow feathers under its wings and tail and a red patch on its neck

A yellow orchid with a slipper-shaped lower petal that grows in woods

yellow press
  • Literature
1 7.1

Newspapers that print shocking and often untrue stories to get more readers

1 9.3

A climbing evergreen plant that has sweet yellow funnel-shaped flowers and poisonous parts

yellow jack
  • Archaic
1 8.8

A serious disease spread by mosquitoes that causes fever and yellow skin

1 9.1

A night-active wading bird with a yellow crown found in North America

alizarin yellow
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A yellow dye used in paints, fabrics, and chemistry

1 9.8

A yellowish fish found in the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico

A thing that has yellow tips, like flower petals

1 8.1

A plant that lives for many years with broad rounded leaves, a bitter root, often growing as a weed

1 6.2

A tall evergreen tree from the Pacific coast of North America often grown in gardens and liked for its wood

Having yellow bands or stripes on the body, like many insects

1 3.5

A plant with bright yellow flowers that grows near ponds and rivers

Slightly yellow in color

A yellow color with a touch of red

1 5.1

A bright pale yellow like a lemon or an egg yolk

1 9.9

A plant that lives many years with a thick knotted yellow underground stem and large rounded leaves

A small wasp with yellow marks that lives in nests in the ground

A climbing bush with sweet-smelling yellow flowers often grown in gardens

cadmium yellow pale
  • Specialized
1 9.7

A pale yellow paint color used by artists

How Brave

brave
860 1.0
yellow
  • Offensive
11 7.9
timid
1 3.5
fearful
115 1.3

Surface Forms

yellow positive

Etymology

Yellow meaning 'cowardly' is a later use and one popular idea is that it came from the sick look of 'jaundice', so 'yellow' began to suggest weakness or fear.