lily-livered

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.

He won't be so hobbled by his lily-livered inability to give a direct order next time, because, frankly, he won't have to.

From Salon • Feb. 1, 2022

If that happens, they can point to their lily-livered observations and say, “See, we knew it all along.”

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 28, 2021

And I haven’t even mentioned Michael Russotto, who plays a lily-livered, easily seduced investor who has eyes only for his payout.

From Washington Post • Apr. 15, 2019

The Elizabethans referred to their monarch not as the head of state but as its liver, and woe to any people saddled with a lily-livered leader, whose bloodless cowardice would surely prove their undoing.

From New York Times • Jun. 12, 2017

“The fire-eater's in love with Resa, I said, he’d devour her with his eyes if he could, but the others wouldn't believe me. All the same—to think of a lily-livered coward like you venturing here!”

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke