chicken-hearted
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- chicken-heartedly adverb
- chicken-heartedness noun
Etymology
Origin of chicken-hearted
An Americanism dating back to 1675–85
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.
"Now I have nothing to fear. And I am not a chicken-hearted type. I've become even more confident in myself. Had I been younger, I would have gone to the fighting with you," Oleksandr brags to some Ukrainian soldiers.
From BBC
Joe Ruby, who helped invigorate Saturday morning children’s television as the co-creator of Scooby-Doo, the long-running animated franchise about a group of teenage private eyes and their chicken-hearted, snack-guzzling Great Dane, died Aug. 26 at his home in Westlake Village, Calif. He was 87.
From Washington Post
All of this only makes Moran’s willingness to stand up for the separation of powers and for democratic values more commendable - and the calculus of his colleagues more chicken-hearted.
From Washington Times
In the 1970s, the strapping Mr. Einstein debuted the character of Super Dave Osborne, a clumsy, chicken-hearted knockoff of flamboyant motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel.
From Washington Post
In this toxic climate, what chicken-hearted wimp would dare step from the shadows and say: “Ecce Homo: Tis I”?
From Salon
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.
