namby-pamby
Collocations
4ADJ.
affected
NAMBY-PAMBY + NOUN
baby, creature, milk-and-water, nonsense
PREP.
about
ADV.
heretofore, instead
Definitions
adj
Insipid and sentimental.
Lacking vigor or decisiveness; spineless; wishy-washy.
[…] she was still, as heretofore, a namby-pamby milk-and-water affected creature […]
We can honestly commend the Atlantic Monthly as the most able and spirited of American periodicals, at the present time, and we like it, moreover, because it dares have opinions and to express them in unmistakable terms, on subjects which when referred to at all, by most of the current magazines, are mentioned in the gingerliest namby-pamby style of common place neutrality.
noun
One who is insipid, sentimental, or weak.
Namby Pamby’s doubly Mild, Once a Man, and twice a Child; To his Hanging-Sleeves restor’d Now he foots it like a Lord; Now he Pumps his little Wits; Sh—ing Writes and Writing Sh—s,^([sic])
Talk or writing which is weakly sentimental or affectedly pretty.
Another of Addison’s favourite companions was Ambrose Phillipps, a good Whig and a middling poet, who had the honour of bringing into fashion a species of composition which has been called, after his name, Namby-Pamby.
verb
To coddle.
While we business men of Britain have little time for this sort of namby-pambying towards the next generation, who are often feckless, tearful, small, dirty or all of the above, there is no doubt that youths have their place in commerce.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
6[…] she was still, as heretofore, a namby-pamby milk-and-water affected creature […]
WiktionaryWe can honestly commend the Atlantic Monthly as the most able and spirited of American periodicals, at the present time, and we like it, moreover, because it dares have opinions and to express them in
WiktionaryShe boasts to Bentley that the Prince of Wales admires her books for the “fearless courage” of her opinions. “He said, ‘There is no namby-pamby nonsense about you – you write with a man’s pen, and I s
WiktionaryNamby Pamby’s doubly Mild, Once a Man, and twice a Child; To his Hanging-Sleeves restor’d Now he foots it like a Lord; Now he Pumps his little Wits; Sh—ing Writes and Writing Sh—s,^([sic])
WiktionaryAnother of Addison’s favourite companions was Ambrose Phillipps, a good Whig and a middling poet, who had the honour of bringing into fashion a species of composition which has been called, after his
WiktionaryWhile we business men of Britain have little time for this sort of namby-pambying towards the next generation, who are often feckless, tearful, small, dirty or all of the above, there is no doubt that
Wiktionary