spineless.

1. Lacking courage, determination, or willingness to resist.

2. Lacking a backbone.

3. Lacking sharp spines or thornlike projections.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• spineless leadership
• spineless response

On the page

She criticized the spineless response.

He called the leader spineless.

The essay distinguishes compromise from spineless surrender.

Usage notes

Primary category: fear. Forms: More spineless; most spineless in figurative use. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings.