as in afraid
having or showing a shameful lack of courage
a chicken-livered newspaper editor who has been afraid to take on the town's powerful business elite
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chicken-livered
Adjective
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The youngest cast member at the time, Williams set the tone for the raw emotion the show was not afraid to show over the years.—
Jen Juneau,
People.com,
24 May 2025 -
Moreover, Rocket has a relatively new CEO who wants to dominate the mortgage industry and is not afraid of technology, previously working at Intuit, PayPal, Groupon and Microsoft.—
Kenneth Squire,
CNBC,
24 May 2025
Adjective
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The look features bright coral eyeshadow covering the eyelid, a fuchsia shade in the crease, and a swipe of fluorescent yellow eyeliner on the outside half of the eye and right under the brow.—
Andrea Park,
Teen Vogue,
20 July 2017
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In addition to selling yellow mustard and hot sauce, the division makes ketchup, onion flavorings and other products.—
Nick Turner,
Bloomberg.com,
19 July 2017
Adjective
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Plus, hearing from the new owners, those dogs have also been scared and skittish around humans.—
Liz O'Connell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 May 2025
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While gold is a popular choice when investors are scared, other alternatives such as infrastructure and real estate offer similar protection.—
Eric Satz,
Forbes.com,
27 May 2025
Adjective
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Horses are naturally skittish animals that can easily become frightened and bolt.—
Moná Thomas,
People.com,
27 May 2025
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Footage from the immediate aftermath captured mothers and fathers clutching children on their hips, running through the mist of water dousing the flames, while frightened dogs scrambled alongside them.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
23 May 2025
Adjective
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Watch out for slippery roads: Be extra careful during the first half hour after rain begins.—
Bay Area Weather Report,
Mercury News,
25 May 2025
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Many participants with conflicting ideologies also reported cohabiting peacefully for the most part, while being careful not to bring up divisive topics and focus on their similarities instead.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
Adjective
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Some also have lost lawyers, dismayed by the pusillanimous behavior of their leaders.—
Michael Hiltzik,
Los Angeles Times,
28 May 2025
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The second believed the United States could attain comprehensive security through military-technological means and saw diplomacy as a quixotic or pusillanimous enterprise that dishonored and weakened the country.—
A. Wess Mitchell,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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That larger significance is remarkably unheroic and fatalistic.—
Gabriel Winslow-Yost,
Harper's Magazine,
23 Sep. 2024
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In the world of The Boys, based on the gleefully scabrous 2000s indie comic-book series of the same name by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson, superheroes are real, pop-culture-dominating, and with rare exceptions, entirely unheroic.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
13 June 2024
Adjective
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Those who resort to violence to undermine our state and nation must be held accountable, and our state leaders must reinforce through decisive action that these cowardly attacks will not be tolerated.—
Ron Estes,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2025
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The cowardly capitulation of Paul Weiss and Skadden Arps are negative examples to be learned from.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
29 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Chicken-livered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chicken-livered. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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