pusillanimous
adjective

- showing a lack of courage or determination; timid

- weak and cowardly (= not brave); frightened of taking risks

- lacking courage and resolution, marked by contemptible timidity

Oxford Languages, The Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

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WORD PHRASE ORIGIN

“Pusillanimous" comes from the Latin pusillanimis, which is a compound of:  pusillus, meaning "very small" or "weak”, and animus, meaning "mind" or "spirit”.  Together, pusillanimis literally means "small-minded" or "weak-spirited”.

The term was used in Medieval Latin to describe individuals who lacked resolve or courage, particularly in moral or spiritual contexts.

"Pusillanimous" entered English in the late 16th century, retaining its Latin meaning of showing a lack of courage, faintheartedness, or timidity. It was often used in formal and literary contexts, especially to criticize someone’s character or decision-making.

Today, "pusillanimous" is a formal term, often used in rhetorical or critical discussions to describe timidity or a lack of boldness in action or speech.

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WHO HESITATES IS LOST!

It seems that the English language has more words for cowardice than Eskimos have for snow, suggesting we've spent centuries obsessing over human weakness.

From Shakespeare's "lily-livered" characters to modern-day "snowflakes," our vocabulary for the faint-hearted has only grown richer with time.

There’s a deep truth in the English proverb “Who hesitates is lost!”. Companies that play it safe, sticking to outdated business models in rapidly changing markets, often find themselves obsolete. Educational institutions that shy away from controversial topics, produce graduates ill-equipped to tackle real-world challenges.

When leaders lack spine, institutions crumble and democracy itself falters. Current developments in the U.S. and Europe are concerning, but at least we have a rich vocabulary for describing the key characters,… take your choice.

Paul & Helga Smith

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SYNONYMS

abject, acquiescent, afraid/scared (of one's shadow), all bark and no bite, apprehensive, approval-seeking, backbone like a chocolate eclair, bloodless, blowing hot and cold, boneless, browbeaten, caitiff, candy-assed, capricious, changeable, characterless, chicken, chicken-hearted (livered), chickenshit, compliant, cowardly, cowed, cowering, craven, cringey, cringing, deferential, dithering, easily frightened (led, scared), effete, emasculated, enervated, equivocal, errant, erring, faint-hearted, faltering, fearful, feeble, feeble-minded (-spirited), flinching, fluctuating, frightened, frittering, full of doubt, gutless, half-arsed (-assed, -hearted), halting, having cold feet (the willies), hemming and hawing, hot and cold, iffy, in doubt (two minds), indecisive, intimidated, jejune, jelly-bellied, jittery, jumpy, lacks backbone (assurance, confidence, self-confidence, vitality), lame, languid, languorous, like a lamb to the slaughter, lily-livered, limp, listless, mealy-mouthed, meek, milk-livered, milksop, milquetoast, mouse-hearted, mousey, nervous, nervous nellie, niddering, no guts, on-the-fence, overcautious, panicky, paper tiger, petrified, pigeon-hearted, pithless, pliable, poltroonish, PUSILLANIMOUS, pussyfooting, quailing, quaking, quavering, quivery, rabbity, rather fold than fight, running scared, sapless, scaredy-cat, sheepish, shilly-shallying, shrinking, shrinking violet, shy, simpering, sissified, sissy, sitting on the fence, skittish, slack-spined, snowflake, spineless, spiritless, spooked, squeamish, submissive, supine, timid, timorous, trembling (like a leaf), unassertive, unassured, uncertain, undecided, undetermined, unimpassioned, unmanly, unnerved, unprotesting, unresisting, vacillating, vapid, waffling, wavering, waxen, weak (as water, of mind, -kneed, minded, -spirited, -willed), weakling, weedy, wet, white-livered, wimpish, wishy-washy, without a will of your own (guts), wobbly, would jump at their own shadow, wussy, yellow, yellow-bellied

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“His PUSILLANIMOUS nature made him unsuitable for a management role.”

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P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D

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