spineless
Definitions
Lacking courage or determination; weak and cowardly.
懦弱的；没骨气的
Having no backbone or spinal column (of an animal); invertebrate.
无脊椎的（动物）
Having no thorns or prickles (of a plant).
无刺的（植物）
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedspine + -less (without) = having no backbone. Literally true of jellyfish and worms. English took the image straight to character: a person with no backbone cannot stand up straight, so a spineless person cannot stand up for themselves — gutless, cowardly.
Root spin still carries 6 more wordsWhy It Means This
The figurative meaning is the dominant everyday one. Because spine already carries the sense 'courage,' removing it (-less) reads instantly as 'lacking courage.' The literal biological sense (a spineless creature = an invertebrate) survives mainly in nature writing; in ordinary speech, 'spineless' almost always means cowardly.
Common Collocations
- 1.spineless coward懦弱的胆小鬼
- 2.spineless creature无脊椎动物
- 3.spineless response软弱无力的回应
- 4.utterly spineless完全没有骨气
Example Sentences
- 1.
Everyone saw him as a spineless manager who never defended his team.
- 2.
Don't be so spineless — tell them what you really think.
- 3.
Jellyfish and other spineless creatures drift with the current.
Easily Confused
spineless vs cowardly — Both describe lack of courage, but spineless stresses the inability to take a firm stand or resist pressure (a spineless yes-man who agrees with everyone), while cowardly stresses fear in the face of danger (a cowardly retreat). A spineless person caves; a cowardly person flees.