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
I’ll take it home to Brichtiva my wife,—she’s not so white-livered as thou.”
From One Snowy Night Long ago at Oxford by M. (Madelaine) Irwin
“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 Frances Hodgson Burnett
He’s the best sport I’ve ever seen, and I hate 99 to see him beat up by that white-livered slugger.”
From Captain Pott's Minister by Francis L. (Francis Le Roy) Cooper
Robert was a fool," commented the General, brusquely, "a long white-livered, studious fellow that dragged around at his wife's apron strings.
From The Romance of a Plain Man by Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
