Standard Lemma guide

pusillanimity

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /pjuːsɪləˈnɪmɪti/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 1685. Dr. Michael de Molinos: The Spiritual Guide which Disentangles the Soul, and Brings it by the Inward Way To The Getting of Perfect Contemplation and the Rich Treasure of Internal Peace, CHAP. XVIII: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/molinos/guide.html. 132. And although thou often fallest, and seest thy Pusillanimity, and endeavour to get courage, and afflict not thy self; because what God doth not do in forty Years, he sometimes doth in an instant, with a particular Mystery, that we may live low and humble, and know that ‘tis the Work of his powerful Hand, to free us from Sins.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

contemptible fearfulness

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pusillanimousness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fearfulness

Narrower terms: poltroonery

History

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”).

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: малодушие (malodušie) — being timid
  • Catalan: pusil·lanimitat — being timid
  • French: pusillanimité — being timid
  • Italian: pusillanimità — being timid
  • Latin: pusillanimitas — being timid
  • Portuguese: pusilanimidade — being timid
  • Russian: малоду́шие (malodúšije) — being timid
  • Spanish: pusilanimidad — being timid
  • Swedish: räddhåga — being timid
  • Swedish: smomodighet — being timid
  • Swedish: försagdhet — being timid
  • Tagalog: kahinaang loob — being timid