spineless
Americanadjective
-
having no spines or quills.
-
having no spine or backbone.
-
having a weak spine; limp.
-
without moral force, resolution, or courage; feeble.
a spineless, lily-livered coward.
- Synonyms:
- indecisive, irresolute, weak
adjective
-
lacking a backbone; invertebrate
-
having no spiny processes
spineless stems
-
lacking strength of character, resolution, or courage
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of spineless
Explanation
If you're spineless, you're weak or cowardly — or both. It would be spineless to watch a bully pick on someone much smaller and not try to intervene. You can certainly use this adjective to literally mean "lacking a spine," and you might if you're talking about invertebrates like the spineless forest lizard or the Garo spineless eel. It's more common to call people spineless as a derogatory way of commenting on their weakness. A spineless superhero is too scared to confront the bad guys, and a spineless politician avoids conversation with critical constituents.
Vocabulary lists containing spineless
"The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka
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Nim's Island
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Part 2 Vocabulary (Unit 4)
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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.
“Maybe people do it out of desperation,” she told me, “but it’s spineless and demoralizing.”
From Slate ● Jan. 20, 2026
In “The Studio,” Scorsese is hilarious as an avatar of artistic integrity who, of course, gets screwed over by Seth Rogen’s spineless studio head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2025
"Let the clumsy, the spineless, the alibi artists stand aside, a poor shot should be a shot irrevocably lost," he stated.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2025
As per Margaret Hartmann with New York Magazine's Intelligencer, the gift is "peak spineless groveling."
From Salon ● Jan. 15, 2025
Once or twice she had seen the father furtively slip the child an extra morsel from his plate, but he was plainly too spineless to stand up for her against his shrew of a wife.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
