pencil-neck
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A person perceived as weak or ineffectual
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
người được coi là yếu đuối hoặc không hiệu quả
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a neck as thin as a pencil
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He's such a pencil-neck, always backing down from a fight
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “pencil-neck” mean?
A person perceived as weak or ineffectual Literally: a neck as thin as a pencil
Is “pencil-neck” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.