milk-livered

adjective

ˈmilk-ˌli-vərd How to pronounce milk-livered (audio)
Definition of milk-liverednext
archaic
as in afraid
having or showing a shameful lack of courage vented his spleen at those milk-livered men who refused to fight for king and country

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for milk-livered
  1. afraid
  2. yellow
  3. scared
  4. frightened
  5. careful
  6. pusillanimous
  7. unheroic
  8. cowardly
Adjective
  • The kind who drive across town for the right crust and aren't afraid to wait for it.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 July 2026
  • Don’t be afraid to volunteer for a responsibility that scares you a little.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 29 July 2026
Definition of afraid
Adjective
  • The threshold in such circumstances should be much higher, so the VAR only intervenes if the challenge merits a yellow or red card.
    — Graham Scott, New York Times, 22 July 2026
  • With colors like lilac, pink, red, blue, yellow, and black, there is a Sproos for every personality and every space.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 21 July 2026
Definition of yellow
Adjective
  • Well, Martha, look, Republicans, my party, has got to be scared, and especially some very good members of Congress who otherwise might deserve re-election are weighed down by the following.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 26 July 2026
  • Instead, too many are running scared and pleading for protection.
    — Craig Garthwaite, Fortune, 24 July 2026
Definition of scared
Adjective
  • Witnesses are often too frightened of the cartels to testify in court.
    — Mary Beth Sheridan, CNN Money, 25 July 2026
  • When Odysseus’ men arrive at Circe’s home, hungry, asking to be fed, Circe seems frightened — understandably so.
    — Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026
Definition of frightened
Adjective
  • But the series is careful to cast suspicions in a multitude of directions, not merely at Michael but at several people in Sarah’s orbit who only reveal themselves when backed into corners.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 23 July 2026
  • Since pilot and crew remains may also still be buried underground, careful excavation work is even more important.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 23 July 2026
Definition of careful
Adjective
  • Some also have lost lawyers, dismayed by the pusillanimous behavior of their leaders.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 28 May 2025
  • 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
Definition of pusillanimous
Adjective
  • Yes, Arsenal fan Neel from New Delhi held his nerve on the final day to shake off the persistent and heroic challenge of six-year-old Wilfred — and the meandering, distinctly unheroic challenge of a 51-year-old journalist.
    — Oliver Kay, New York Times, 26 May 2026
  • That larger significance is remarkably unheroic and fatalistic.
    — Gabriel Winslow-Yost, Harper's Magazine, 23 Sep. 2024
Definition of unheroic
Adjective
  • The trans actor Elliot Page plays Sinon, a poor boy from Ithaca who is brave enough to travel with Odysseus in place of the cowardly aristocrat Antinous, played by Robert Pattinson.
    — Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 24 July 2026
  • Weiss, Maher says, told him her internal critics are too cowardly to say anything to her face.
    — Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 23 July 2026
Definition of cowardly
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

milking
milk-livered
milks
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Cite this Entry

“Milk-livered.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/milk-livered. Accessed 31 Jul. 2026.

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