poltroonery

English

Etymology

From poltroon +‎ -ery.

Noun

poltroonery (countable and uncountable, plural poltrooneries)

1. Cowardice; lack of spirit; pusillanimity.
   • 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. IX, Abbot Samson”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk):

     Genius, Poet: do we know what these words mean? […] Nature’s own sacred voice heard once more athwart the dreary boundless element of hearsaying and canting, of twaddle and poltroonery, in which the bewildered Earth, nigh perishing, has lost its way.

   • 1952, C. S. Lewis, chapter 12, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Collins, published 1998:

     “Your Majesty, your Majesty,” he said, “are you going to tolerate this mutiny, this poltroonery? This is a panic, this is a rout.”

References

• “poltroonery”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.