Pusillanimity

//pjuːsɪləˈnɪmɪti// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The quality or state of being pusillanimous; the vice of being timid and cowardly, and thus not living up to one's full potential; pusillanimousness. countable, uncountable

    "The ſecond property of your excellent ſherris, is the vvarming of the blood, vvhich before (cold & ſetled) left the lyuer vvhite & pale, vvhich is the badge of puſilanimitie and covvardize: but the ſherris vvarmes it, and makes it courſe from the invvards to the partes extreames, […]"

  2. 2
    contemptible fearfulness wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
basenesschicken-heartednesscowardicecowardicehen-heartednesspusillanimousness

Example

More examples

"The idea of his concealment, not only agrees very ill with his reputed divinity, but associates with it something of pusillanimity."

Etymology

From pusillanim(ous) + -ity, from Middle French pusillanimité, from the ecclesiastical Latin pusillanimis, from pusillus (puny) + animus (spirit) + -ous. A translation of the Greek ὀλιγόψυχος (oligópsukhos, “faint-hearted”).

Related phrases

faint heartedness

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.