lily-livered

Related to lily-livered: solely, perpetually, identifying, against, brusque, free-standing, doomy

lily-livered

Cowardly or fearful. I'm not surprised that Tom didn't come to the rally—he's too lily-livered to defend his beliefs in public.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

lily-livered

mod. cowardly. That lily-livered guy is up hiding under his bed till this blows over.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • liver
  • on one's
  • on someone's
  • out of one's
  • (I've) got to go
  • save someone's skin
  • (Have you) been OK?
  • other than
  • other than (something)
  • pillow-biter
References in periodicals archive
The basis of the word lily-livered lies in the once-held belief that a person's health and temperament are influenced by four bodily fluids, or humors: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.
But as I said in this column after the unexpected blip, at Gor we are not lily-livered.
Of course, changing a country is not a task for the lily-livered but historically, and as the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, I know for sure that Yoruba leaders have a record of not succumbing to machinations of 'enemies of the society'.
I'd rather have Davis than the lily-livered Corbyn leading negotiations.
Germany's lily-livered attitude was similar to that of the authorities here, who were in some part complicit in making it easier for Asian grooming gangs to do their evil work.
The lily-livered trustees had broached an important principle by making the BBC an arm of the welfare state.
Miliband is a lily-livered millionaire playboy, who will go the way the unions tell him.
How can anyone know if their heavily-inked beau is a genuine free spirit or a lily-livered Nigel who will have it all burned off in 10 years time, in a bid to become assistant manager at his local Asda.
AS a white, wishywashy, lily-livered liberal, the issue of the Muslim veil has bothered me greatly.
We can't entirely blame the Prime Minister as it was his master's voice, the official spokesman, who uttered the lily-livered denial that will leave English fans dismayed and make the boss an all-round laughing stock.
CHARLES HOWELL III demonstrated yet again in the Frys.com Open three weeks ago what a lily-livered character he is when in contention for titles, writes Steve Palmer.
Certainly not our lily-livered Football Association.
Now, an angry Cllr Williams has called one complainant a "lily-livered coward", voiced suspicions they had political allegiances to Plaid Cymru and said they lacked "decency" for targeting him while he was receiving treatment for cancer.
Verity will probably just adopt that cruel smile and write them off as lily-livered baby-spoilers.
Those lily-livered people have a lot to answer for.