chicken-hearted

adj

"chicken-hearted" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“chicken-hearted” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Not brave; lacking courage; cowardly.

Corpus desk

Index EN-chicken-hearted · chicken-hearted · English

chicken-hearted · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for chicken-hearted
PropertyValue
Headwordchicken-hearted
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “chicken-hearted” in English

chicken-heartedsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chicken-hearted is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Not brave; lacking courage; cowardly.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for chicken-hearted in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From chicken + hearted, after chicken heart. Compare hen-hearted. The correct English form is chicken-hearted, spelled C-H-I-C-K-E-N---H-E-A-R-T-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Not brave; lacking courage; cowardly.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how chicken-hearted appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This chicken-hearted couple, by the light of a rush-candle that burned on the hearth, seeing a stranger burst into the chamber, in such a terrible attitude, were seized with consternation […].

Etymology

From chicken + hearted, after chicken heart. Compare hen-hearted.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "chicken-hearted"?
"chicken-hearted" is spelled C-H-I-C-K-E-N---H-E-A-R-T-E-D.
What does "chicken-hearted" mean?
As an adjective, "chicken-hearted" means: Not brave; lacking courage; cowardly.
What is the origin of the word "chicken-hearted"?
From chicken + hearted, after chicken heart. Compare hen-hearted. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list