Colloquial Variant guide

yellow-bellied

adj · 3 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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1

adj

Meaning 1

Of an animal or reptile; having a yellow underside or belly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Uncourageous, cowardly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, figuratively, idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

easily frightened

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: chicken, chickenhearted, lily-livered, white-livered, yellow

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From yellow + bellied; see yellowbelly.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: դեղնափոր (deġnapʻor) — of an animal or reptile having a yellow underside or belly
  • German: gelbbäuchig — of an animal or reptile having a yellow underside or belly
  • Polish: żółtobrzuchy — of an animal or reptile having a yellow underside or belly
  • Russian: желтобрю́хий (želtobrjúxij) — of an animal or reptile having a yellow underside or belly
  • Spanish: ventriamarillo — of an animal or reptile having a yellow underside or belly
  • Catalan: covard — uncourageous, cowardly — see also cowardly
  • Dutch: lafhartig — uncourageous, cowardly — see also cowardly
  • Finnish: pelkurimainen — uncourageous, cowardly — see also cowardly
  • German: feige — uncourageous, cowardly — see also cowardly
  • Polish: tchórzliwy — uncourageous, cowardly — see also cowardly
  • Russian: трусли́вый (truslívyj) — uncourageous, cowardly — see also cowardly
  • Ukrainian: боягу́зливий (bojahúzlyvyj) — uncourageous, cowardly — see also cowardly