spineless

[ spahyn-lis ]
See synonyms for: spinelessspinelessness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. having no spines or quills.

  2. having no spine or backbone.

  1. having a weak spine; limp.

  2. without moral force, resolution, or courage; feeble: a spineless, lily-livered coward.

Origin of spineless

1
First recorded in 1820–30; spine + -less

Other words for spineless

Opposites for spineless

Other words from spineless

  • spine·less·ly, adverb
  • spine·less·ness, noun

Words Nearby spineless

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

How to use spineless in a sentence

  • spineless” is a charge Romney critics have leveled at the presidential candidate.

    A Glimmer of Daylight | Hannah Gross | August 6, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Taking it on now is strictly Obama's sop to liberals appalled by his spineless obsession with managing public perceptions.

    Obama's Desperate Gay Pander | Lee Siegel | February 2, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • "Perdita Hepworth," she abandoned her spineless attitude and sat upright, speaking with vehemence.

    The Beauty | Mrs. Wilson Woodrow
  • If any of the jury dissented from its false statement they were too spineless to express their opinion.

    The Everett massacre | Walker C. Smith
  • He had once been persuaded, yielding out of spineless bravado, to descend the shaft of a mine in a huge bucket.

    Bunker Bean | Harry Leon Wilson
  • Willed attention, rather than spineless feeling distractibility, might have saved him.

  • But of course, since I am as spineless as a mollusk, I sought to accept this heaven-sent visitation with due resignation.

    A Top-Floor Idyl | George van Schaick

British Dictionary definitions for spineless

spineless

/ (ˈspaɪnlɪs) /


adjective
  1. lacking a backbone; invertebrate

  2. having no spiny processes: spineless stems

  1. lacking strength of character, resolution, or courage

Derived forms of spineless

  • spinelessly, adverb
  • spinelessness, noun

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