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chicken-hearted

[ chik-uh n-hahr-tid ]

/ ˈtʃɪk ənˈhɑr tɪd /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR chicken-hearted ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective Informal.

timid; fearful; cowardly.

Origin of chicken-hearted

An Americanism dating back to 1675–85

OTHER WORDS FROM chicken-hearted

chick·en-heart·ed·ly, adverb chick·en-heart·ed·ness, noun

Words nearby chicken-hearted

chicken wire, chicken with its head cut off, chicken-and-egg, chicken-fried, chicken-fry, chicken-hearted, chicken-livered, chickenpox, chickenpox immune globulin (human), chickenpox virus, chickens come home to roost

Example sentences from the Web for chicken-hearted

They must have been very different fellows from the chicken-hearted children of the desert recorded in these volumes.

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXVI. October, 1843. Vol. LIV. |Various
They are chicken-hearted fools, who will fight for neither side.

With Rifle and Bayonet |F.S. Brereton
He must always have been chicken-hearted, for he had changed his religion out of fear.

Stray Pearls |Charlotte M. Yonge
At this point Phils anger blazed and he raged at Billy, calling him chicken-hearted.

The New Boys at Oakdale |Morgan Scott

She supposed it to be caused by the story; and said to herself, that she should not have thought Ben was chicken-hearted.

Mildred Arkell, Volume II (of 3) |Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for chicken-hearted

chicken-hearted

chicken-livered

adjective

easily frightened; cowardly

Derived forms of chicken-hearted

chicken-heartedly, adverb chicken-heartedness, noun