I'm writing a Regency novel, and used the word Milquetoast to describe a weak, spineless character. Now I find it was invented in 1926, 110 years after my novel is set. Can anyone suggest a noun to describe such a character that would have been in use in 1816?

From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary --

Synonyms fainthearted, fearful, fearsome, mouse, mousy (or mousey), scary, skittish, timid, timorous, tremulous

Related Words chicken, chickenhearted, chicken-livered, cowardly, craven, dastardly, gutless, lily-livered, milk-livered [archaic], poltroon, pusillanimous, spineless

I like lily-livered mouse.

If possible, I'm looking for a single noun that implies lack of backbone, rather than cowardice, so the character can protest "I'm not a ???" Is there a noun for "hen pecked"?

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Originally Posted by Eileen G

If possible, I'm looking for a single noun that implies lack of backbone, rather than cowardice, so the character can protest "I'm not a ???" Is there a noun for "hen pecked"?

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Mouse would work for me.