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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Of course, none of this is easy—many of us are conditioned to wait for a chain of approvals or are afraid of making mistakes.—
Vanina Marcote,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025 -
Namely, attendees can expect a number of high-energy sets from various DJs — who hopefully aren’t afraid of heights — throughout the temporary venue’s run, starting with a sneak peek performance by Carlita on May 16.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
12 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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Three prominent Austin chefs teamed up with the Youngblood family to build a new restaurant from scratch that looks like a legacy chicken dinner house, down to the bright blue-and-yellow colors and the helpings of hot yeast rolls with honey.—
Bud Kennedy,
star-telegram,
19 July 2017
Adjective
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Well, Netflix has found another one of these aspirational gurus who are scared to die and are willing to go to extreme lengths to preserve their physique — at any cost.—
Rebecca Aizin,
People.com,
16 May 2025
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More news: 3 Dodgers Under Most Pressure to Perform Following Shocking Roster Move While some fans appeared to be understandably scared, many just remained in their seats, seemingly unaware of the animal scurrying around them.—
Noah Camras,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 May 2025
Adjective
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The frightened Maltese was swimming in circles, but Desalvo and his colleagues were able to pull her to safety.—
Rebecca White,
New York Daily News,
10 May 2025
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The first few attempts to free the dog failed, then the rescuers cleverly used a tarp to hoist the frightened animal to safety.—
Kendall Malinchock,
USA Today,
9 May 2025
Adjective
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From examining markets and assessing team capacity to reviewing current offerings, the decision to expand to a second storefront is one that requires careful consideration before any concrete plans are put in motion.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
14 May 2025
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Hillman and the department urged residents in the area to be extra careful this time of year.—
Brooke Baitinger,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 May 2025
Adjective
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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
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In this instance, though, the Administration is not attempting to trample on powerless civil servants or migrants, or pusillanimous law firms, or universities that don’t have as much money as Harvard does.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
21 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 25 May. 2025.
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