Crossword clues for pusillanimity
pusillanimity
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Pusillanimity \Pu`sil*la*nim"i*ty\, n. [L. pusillanimitas: cf. F. pusillanimit['e].] The quality of being pusillanimous; weakness of spirit; cowardliness.
The badge of pusillanimity and cowardice.
--Shak.
It is obvious to distinguished between an act of . . .
pusillanimity and an act of great modesty or humility.
--South.
Syn: Cowardliness; cowardice; fear; timidity.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 14c., from Middle French pusillanimité (14c.), from Church Latin pusillanimitatem (nominative pusillanimitas) "faintheartedness," from Latin pusillanimis "fainthearted, having little courage" (see pusillanimous).
Wiktionary
n. 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.
WordNet
n. contemptible fearfulness [syn: pusillanimousness]
Usage examples of "pusillanimity".
The circus resounded with their indignant clamors, and they tumultuously besieged the gates of the palace, reproaching the pusillanimity of their indolent sovereign, and celebrating the heroic spirit of Constantine.
Words ending in ty have their accent on the antepenult, as pusillanimity, activity.
Instead of being confined within the walls of fortified cities, which the Romans considered as the refuge of weakness or pusillanimity, the legions were encamped on the banks of the great rivers, and along the frontiers of the barbarians.
Instead of being confined within the walls of fortified cities, which the Romans considered as the refuge of weakness or pusillanimity, the legions were encamped on the banks of the great rivers, and along the frontiers of the barbarians.
If it were possible to rely on the partial testimony of an injudicious writer, we might ascribe the abdication of Diocletian to the menaces of Galerius, and relate the particulars of a private conversation between the two princes, in which the former discovered as much pusillanimity as the latter displayed ingratitude and arrogance.
The circus resounded with their indignant clamors, and they tumultuously besieged the gates of the palace, reproaching the pusillanimity of their indolent sovereign, and celebrating the heroic spirit of Constantine.
The inaction of the negroes does not seem to be the effect either of their virtue or of their pusillanimity.