lily-livered

[ lil-ee-liv-erd ]
See synonyms for lily-livered on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. weak or lacking in courage; cowardly; pusillanimous.

Origin of lily-livered

1
First recorded in 1595–1605; lily + liver1 + -ed3

Words Nearby lily-livered

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lily-livered in a sentence

  • There is the type of the "love-lorn maiden," of "the lily-livered" hero, of the faithful friend, of the poltroon.

    The Critics Versus Shakspere | Francis A. Smith
  • It happened in the last year of Cartouche's supremacy that a lily-livered comrade fell in love with a pretty dressmaker.

    A Book of Scoundrels | Charles Whibley
  • Thy lily-livered husband lies at my mercy, and once in Davy Jones's locker will be out of my path.

    The Squire's Daughter | Archibald Marshall

British Dictionary definitions for lily-livered

lily-livered

adjective
  1. cowardly; timid

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012