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A.Word.A.Day--pusillanimous

Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

This week's theme: Words to describe people.

pusillanimous (pyoo-suh-LAN-uh-muhs) adjective

Lacking courage; timid.

[From Latin pusillus (weak, very small), diminutive of pullus (young of an animal) + animus (spirit, mind).]

See more usage examples of pusillanimous in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

-Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)

"Although the admonitory title and scarlet cover of Erik Durschmied's Beware the Dragon is designed to chill the blood of pusillanimous Europeans and Americans already anxious about the rise of China, the book itself is a war correspondent's take on the past, not the future." Victor Mallet; The Rebalance of Power; The Financial Times (London, UK); Apr 5 2008.

X-Bonus

Men are idolaters, and want something to look at and kiss and hug, or throw themselves down before; they always did, they always will; and if you don't make it of wood, you must make it of words. -Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., poet, novelist, essayist, and physician (1809-1894)

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