Word of the Day
Wednesday, October 31, 2012lily-livered
\ LIL-ee-LIV-erd \ , noun;
1.
Weak or lacking in courage; cowardly; pusillanimous.
But surely, for your own sake, you will not be so lily-livered as to fall into this trap
which he has baited for you and let him take the very bread out of your mouth
without a struggle.
-- Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers
He had skin as white as a lily, but he was not lily-livered ; he was as strong as a
champion at the Shrovetide games.
-- Geoffrey Chaucer and Peter Ackroyd, Canterbury Tales
Lily-livered was first used in English by Shakespeare in Macbeth . The liver was
supposedly the seat of passion and was typically dark red or brown. Since a lily is pale
and light-coloured, a lily-livered person was weak and passionless
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
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