PUSILLANIMOUS • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Pusillanimous

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/pjusəlˈænəməs/ Listen

adjective

Pusillanimous adj.

Destitute of a manly or courageous strength and firmness of mind; of weak spirit; mean-spirited; spiritless; cowardly; said of persons, as, a pusillanimous prince.

Evincing, or characterized by, weakness of mind, and want of courage; feeble; as, pusillanimous counsels. "A low and pusillanimous spirit."

Synonyms: Cowardly; dastardly; mean-spirited; fainthearted; timid; weak; feeble.

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Etymology of 'Pusillanimous'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Pusillanimous" Quotes from Famous Books

... any theory that may be offered, without a fair and candid examination, will leave our minds in uncertainty and doubt as to the validity of our own position. A blind faith is only one remove from a pusillanimous skepticism. We can not render our own position secure except by comprehending, assaulting, and capturing the position of our foe. It is, therefore, due to ourselves and to the cause of truth, that we shall examine the evidence upon which each ...

— Christianity and Greek Philosophy • Benjamin Franklin Cocker

... upwards at another. There was no sense of support afforded by the touch of comrades, and the being an item of a serried mass, as in the case of the majority of the battles of the Soudan, fought in square formation. Then there might be unsteady or pusillanimous soldiers, whose faults were hidden by their firmer comrades, from whose presence and example they gained confidence; but at Kirbekan every soldier fought on his own account, as it were, and failure in courage or dash in any individual would have been at once perceptible. But there ...

— For Fortune and Glory - A Story of the Soudan War • Lewis Hough

... at Majuba Hill was followed by the complete surrender of the Gladstonian Government, an act which was either the most pusillanimous or the most magnanimous in recent history. It is hard for the big man to draw away from the small before blows are struck, but when the big man has been knocked down three times it is harder still. An overwhelming British force was in the field, and the General declared that he held the enemy ...

— The War in South Africa - Its Cause and Conduct • Arthur Conan Doyle

... divided in their opinions. Men of fortitude applauded its wisdom, but the pusillanimous murmured that it ...

— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. II (of 3) - Edited, With Memoir And Notes, By His Son, The Earl Of Beaconsfield • Isaac D'Israeli

... responsibility which I decline not, and having encouraged and blessed the departure of several of those youthful volunteers, I would be ashamed of myself if now, restrained by the fears arising from a pusillanimous prudence, I did not offer them the homage of my admiration together with that of my prayers. Your sympathies are already with my words. If they gave offence to any hearers, I would, indeed, be afflicted. But, by the grace of God, the country which we inhabit is ...

— Pius IX. And His Time • The Rev. AEneas MacDonell

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