yellow
- adjective
- /ˈjɛloʊ/
- Offensive
- 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
Easily frightened and not willing to take risks
Being too afraid to do things that need courage
Not brave and easily frightened
Being very easily frightened and not brave
Very afraid and not willing to face danger
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
To start a journey into the unknown that brings adventure and personal change
Compounds
- Specialized
A serious disease spread by mosquitoes that makes the skin turn yellow
- Jargon
An alert warning people about a specific emergency, for example bad weather or a missing person
The second-longest river in northern China that flows east to the Yellow Sea and has yellow mud
- Literature
Reporting that exaggerates and uses shocking stories to attract readers while ignoring the truth
A small aggressive wasp with yellow and black stripes that often builds nests in the ground
A small woodpecker with a pale yellow belly that drills rows of holes in trees to eat sap and insects
- US
A freshwater fish with a yellow body and dark stripes, caught for food and sport
- Specialized
A bright yellow pigment made from cadmium used in painting that is poisonous
- Literature
A reporter who writes exaggerated or shocking stories to attract readers
A large pine tree from the southeastern United States with long needles and rough reddish bark used for timber
- Specialized
A small freshwater fish with yellowish colour that looks like a striped bass
A large woodpecker with yellow feathers under its wings and tail and a red patch on its neck
- Literature
Newspapers that print shocking and often untrue stories to get more readers
A climbing evergreen plant that has sweet yellow funnel-shaped flowers and poisonous parts
- Specialized
A night-active wading bird with a yellow crown found in North America
A plant that lives for many years with broad rounded leaves, a bitter root, often growing as a weed
- US
A tall evergreen tree from the Pacific coast of North America often grown in gardens and liked for its wood
- US
A plant that lives many years with a thick knotted yellow underground stem and large rounded leaves
How Brave
Surface Forms
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.