lily-livered
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of lily-livered
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.
He won't be so hobbled by his lily-livered inability to give a direct order next time, because, frankly, he won't have to.
From Salon ● Feb. 1, 2022
If that happens, they can point to their lily-livered observations and say, “See, we knew it all along.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2021
After all, Arsenal’s last away game was that wretched, lily-livered, tactically incompetent 4-0 defeat at Anfield.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 17, 2017
The Elizabethans referred to their monarch not as the head of state but as its liver, and woe to any people saddled with a lily-livered leader, whose bloodless cowardice would surely prove their undoing.
From New York Times ● Jun. 12, 2017
“Be quiet, you lily-livered Mellower!” said Mrs. Horsepool- Worthingham, using her special voice.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
