scaredy-cat

noun

noun

Etymology From scared + -y + cat.

Endearing A coward; a person who is easily frightened or high-strung and easily scared.

I don't care — I wouldn't be such a scaredy-cat for anything.1918, Florence Kiper Frank, “The Child and the Little Sister”, in The Midland, volume 4, page 61:
Oh, yes, do let's dance together—it's so nice to meet a man who isn't a scaredy-cat about catching my beri-beri.1933, Dorothy Parker, The Waltz:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.