white-livered

American

[hwahyt-liv-erd, wahyt-] / ˈʰwaɪtˈlɪv ərd, ˈwaɪt- /

adjective

lacking courage; cowardly; lily-livered.
lacking in vitality or spirit; pale; unhealthy.

white-livered British

adjective

lacking in spirit or courage
pallid and unhealthy in appearance

"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

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.

"Gentlemen," said Merry, "I'll be obliged if you will tell me where I can find the white-livered cur who just shot Ben File from this doorway."

From Project Gutenberg

But I see into it, the white-livered villain.

From Project Gutenberg

I have spared him--he's a white-livered hound!--both once and twice, and we must go to the end with it since no better can be!

From Project Gutenberg

Your father and me's had a difference, all along of that clerk of his, Jeremiah, Mrs. Pamflett's white-livered son.

From Project Gutenberg

Lincoln, the abominable, white-livered abolitionist, is President elect of the United States; shall he be permitted to take his seat on Southern soil?

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023