white-livered
Americanadjective
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lacking courage; cowardly; lily-livered.
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lacking in vitality or spirit; pale; unhealthy.
adjective
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lacking in spirit or courage
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pallid and unhealthy in appearance
Etymology
Origin of white-livered
First recorded in 1540–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That will separate the men from the boys, the ones with guts and the ones too white-livered to face Hoffa and his racketeers.
From Time Magazine Archive
For Bardolph,—he is white-livered and red-faced; by the means whereof ’a faces it out, but fights not.
From King Henry the Fifth Arranged for Representation at the Princess's Theatre by Kean, Charles John
“He’s a coward as well as a fool,” he said afterwards in the bosom of his family; “a white-livered fool who hasn’t the nerve to look at a sick child.”
From In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
In other words," answered Duncan with measureless contempt in his tone, "you are a miserable coward, a white-livered wretch, whose life wouldn't be worth saving if it were in danger.
From A Captain in the Ranks A Romance of Affairs by Eggleston, George Cary
I would not trust them further than the canaille itself; they are a white-livered lot in spite of their gaudy uniforms.
From Robert Tournay A Romance of the French Revolution by Sage, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
