backboneless en · ADJ
Etymology
From backbone + -less.
Meanings
-
(literally, not-comparable) Without a backbone; invertebrate.
Once, like a drunken man, I lurched forward, and fell upon my knees. Such was my backboneless state that for some seconds I remained where I was, half disposed to let things slide, accept the good the gods had sent me, and make a night of it just there.
1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
- (figuratively, not-comparable) Cowardly, spineless.