Word of the Day

: May 22, 2010

lily-livered

adjective LILL-ee-LIV-erd

What It Means

: lacking courage : cowardly

lily-livered in Context

"I regret not hurling myself into university life because I was too … lily-livered to live a little." (Laura Barton, The Guardian [London], August 16, 2001)

Did You Know?

The basis of the word "lily-livered" lies in an old belief. Years ago, people thought that health and temperament were the products of a balance or imbalance of four bodily fluids, or humors: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. It was believed that a deficiency of yellow bile, or choler, the humor that governed anger, spirit, and courage, would leave a person’s liver colorless or white. Someone with this deficiency, and so white-livered, would be spiritless and a coward. "Lily-livered" and "white-livered" have been used synonymously since the 16th century, but "lily-livered" is now the more common expression, probably because of its alliteration.