he is pusillanimous

he is afraid

TRANSLATION

- ängstlich, nervös; - kleinmütig, verzagt

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

Pusillanimous B-B-Bennett

Arnold Bennett, who suffered from a severe speech impediment, was nervous about being approached by strangers. One day, a stranger in London asked Bennett for directions to Putney Bridge.

"There are eight m-m-million p-p-people in London," Bennett cried. "Why the d-d-devil can't you ask s-s-somebody else!?"

Bennett, Enoch Arnold (1867-1931) British writer and theater critic -noted for his depiction of life among the lower middle classes in such works as The Old Wives' Tale (1908)

Did you
know?

pusillanimous

From the Middle English pusillanimus, from Late Latin pusillanimis : Latin pusillus, weak, diminutive of pullus, young of an animal + animus, reason, mind.

Synonyms:

afraid, anxious, apprehensive, cowering, cowhearted, craven, dastardly, faint-hearted, frightened, gutless, jittery, lacking courage, lily-livered, nervous, no guts, panicky, paper tiger, pigeon-hearted, pusillanimous, recreant, run scared, scared, shrinking, shy, soft, spineless, got the willies, timid, timorous, unmanly, weak, weak-kneed, worthless, yellow

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