How to say "faint-hearted" in Japanese

• 気が小さいきがちいさい
  expression, i-adjectiveCovers the plain sense: a person who is timid, faint-hearted, even wimpish. The predicate form, used to say that someone lacks courage; it can carry a mildly dismissive edge, as 'wimpish' suggests.
• 小心翼々しょうしんよくよく
  na-adjective, no-adjective, taru-adjective, adverb (with と)A four-character idiom for the strong sense: very timid, very nervous. Use it when you want to emphasize the degree — someone not merely faint-hearted but markedly so; a less common, emphatic choice.
• 気の小さいきのちいさい
  expression, i-adjectiveSame meaning as 気が小さい — timid, faint-hearted, wimpish — but this is the form used when the expression directly modifies a noun; to state it as a predicate, use 気が小さい.

「気が小さい」 and 「気の小さい」 are one expression in predicate and noun-modifying forms, for the plain sense of a timid, wimpish person, while the four-character idiom 小心翼々 suits an emphatic shade — very timid, very nervous; all three are less common choices.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 気が小さいきがちいさいtimid
• 小心翼々しょうしんよくよくvery timid
• 気の小さいきのちいさいtimid