faint-hearted
/ˌfeɪntˈhɑːtɪd
/adjective
Lacking courage; timid: they were feeling faint-hearted at the prospect of war (as plural noun the faint-hearted) litigation is not for the faint-hearted...
- He's followed his Dad into the tree-felling and carting business, not a career for the soft or faint-hearted.
- Conditions were still not for the faint-hearted and with athletes travelling from as far away as Bath and London, this proved a tough assignment in every respect.
- Flying with ex-Red Arrows is billed as the ultimate experience for aircraft enthusiasts and daredevils, rather than the faint-hearted.
Synonyms
timid, timorous, nervous, easily scared, easily frightened, scared, fearful, afraid, trembling, quaking, cowering, daunted;
cowardly, craven, spiritless, spineless, pusillanimous, weak, weak-willed, unmanly, lily-livered, pigeon-hearted, weak-kneed, weakling;
British nervy;
Scottish feart
informal soft, jumpy, jittery, chicken, chicken-hearted, chicken-livered, yellow, yellow-bellied, gutless, sissy, wimpy, wimpish
British informal wet
North American informal spooked, candy-assed
North American vulgar slang chickenshit
archaic recreant, poor-spirited
archaic, informal funky
Derivatives
faint-heartedly
/ adverb ...- They gave battle but faint-heartedly, being all unready for an enemy, and presently threw down their arms and begged for quarter.
- "We are going to bypass this place, too?" Lontel asked faint-heartedly as he studied the valley walls that steepened into cliffs and narrowed until they almost touched the outer walls of Midpost.
faint-heartedness
- The question, then, is how we build on this epiphany; now is no time for faint-heartedness.
- Calling someone an ‘appeaser ‘is a dreadful insult, one implying, faint-heartedness, limp-wristedness, lily-liveredness, and all the rest.’
- In each of these institutional developments Kay met with and overcame opposition and faint-heartedness, rallied the support of the faithful, inveigled co-operation, and prevailed.