as in fearfulness
a shameful lack of courage in the face of danger
the pusillanimity shown by the press on this issue after the administration began applying pressure
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Recent Examples of pusillanimity
Our logrolling, our stumps and their politics, our fisheries, our Negroes and Indians, our boasts and our repudiations, the wrath of rogues and the pusillanimity of honest men, the northern trade, the southern planting, the western clearing, Oregon, and Texas, are yet unsung.
—
Mark Edmundson, Harper’s Magazine , 12 Dec. 2022
What a profile in pusillanimity.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 23 May 2022
The pusillanimity of American corporations on this subject continues to astound.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2021
First civil-rights groups accused it of pusillanimity.
—The Economist, 14 Apr. 2021
It is often said that, given the rank pusillanimity of most politicians, such backsliding is inevitable.
—Rich Lowry, National Review, 26 Mar. 2021
On the Republican side, strategic calculations ahead of the Georgia runoffs are reinforcing the pusillanimity that many officials are displaying.
—John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2020
Reid’s statement was striking for its sheer pusillanimity.
—Adam S. Posen, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2015
Mark Edmundson, Harper’s Magazine , 12 Dec. 2022
What a profile in pusillanimity.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 23 May 2022
The pusillanimity of American corporations on this subject continues to astound.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 26 Dec. 2021
First civil-rights groups accused it of pusillanimity.
—The Economist, 14 Apr. 2021
It is often said that, given the rank pusillanimity of most politicians, such backsliding is inevitable.
—Rich Lowry, National Review, 26 Mar. 2021
On the Republican side, strategic calculations ahead of the Georgia runoffs are reinforcing the pusillanimity that many officials are displaying.
—John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2020
Reid’s statement was striking for its sheer pusillanimity.
—Adam S. Posen, Foreign Affairs, 14 Dec. 2015
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pusillanimity
cowardice
Noun
-
My silence felt like cowardice, stemming from a fear of alienation, of feeling unsafe—exactly what the ADL, unironically, pledges to ameliorate in school settings.—
Sahar Mustafah
August 27,
Literary Hub,
27 Aug. 2025
-
The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pusillanimity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pusillanimity. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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