Meanings
comparative more chicken-hearted · superlative most chicken-hearted
- Not brave; lacking courage; cowardly.First known use 17th c.
This chicken-hearted couple, by the light of a rush-candle that burned on the hearth, seeing a stranger burst into the chamber, in such a terrible attitude, were seized with consternation […].
1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLCSynonyms: hen-hearted, backboneless, base, soft, bitch-ass, boneless, caitiff, candy-assed · Antonyms: lionhearted, adventurous, mettlesome, aweless, bad, bold, brass-balled, chivalrous
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveNot brave; lacking courage; cowardly.
Origin
From chicken + hearted, after chicken heart. Compare hen-hearted.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish jänishousuinen
- jänishousuinenlacking courage
German ängstlich, furchtsam
- ängstlichlacking courage
- furchtsamlacking courage
Hungarian nyúlszívű, gyáva
- nyúlszívűlacking courage
- gyávalacking courage
Spanish gallina
- gallinalacking courage
Swedish harhjärtad, feg
- harhjärtadlacking courage
- feglacking courage
Cite this entry
chicken-hearted. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken-hearted
“chicken-hearted.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken-hearted. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chicken-hearted,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken-hearted.
Source: chicken-hearted on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.