namby-pamby
adjective
[ nambɪˈpambi ]
• lacking energy, strength, or courage; weak or ineffectual.
• "I certainly didn't need any affection—namby-pamby nonsense"
Similar:
weak,
feeble,
spineless,
effeminate,
effete,
limp-wristed,
womanish,
prim,
prissy,
mincing,
simpering,
niminy-piminy,
vapid,
insipid,
colourless,
anaemic,
ineffectual,
sentimental,
over-sentimental,
mawkish,
maudlin,
wet,
wishy-washy,
weedy,
wimpish,
wimpy,
sissy,
sissified,
candy-assed,
namby-pamby
noun
• a weak or ineffectual person.
• "he was a good boy, a namby-pamby, who kept the place assigned to him"
Origin:
mid 18th century: fanciful formation based on the given name of Ambrose Philips (died 1749), an English writer whose pastorals were ridiculed by Pope and others.
