namby-pamby
adjective, noun, verb
Forms namby-pambier namby-pambiest namby-pambies namby-pambying namby-pambied mamby-pamby
- adjective Insipid and sentimental.
- adjective Lacking vigor or decisiveness; spineless; wishy-washy.
- noun One who is insipid, sentimental, or weak.
- noun Talk or writing which is weakly sentimental or affectedly pretty.
- verb To coddle.
Synonyms
Etymology
From the poem Namby-Pamby (1726) by Henry Carey, a satire on the sentimental pastorals of the poet Ambrose Phillips.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Talk or writing which is weakly sentimental or affectedly pretty. Macaulay.
- adjective Affectedly pretty; weakly sentimental; finical; insipid.
Etymology [From Ambrose Phillips, in ridicule of the extreme simplicity of some of his verses.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “namby-pamby”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details