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namby-pamby

[ nam-bee-pam-bee ]
/ ˈnæm biˈpæm bi /
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See synonyms for namby-pamby on Thesaurus.com
adjective
without firm methods or policy; weak or indecisive: namby-pamby handling of juvenile offenders.
lacking in character, directness, or moral or emotional strength: namby-pamby writing.
weakly sentimental, pretentious, or affected; insipid.
noun, plural nam·by-pam·bies for 4.
a namby-pamby person: written by and for namby-pambies.
namby-pamby sentiment: the harmless namby-pamby of a birthday card.
namby-pamby verse or prose.
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Origin of namby-pamby

First recorded in 1726; rhyming compound based on the first syllable of Ambrose Philips; first used as a nickname for Philips in the title of a poem by Henry Carey (1687?–1743) ridiculing his verse

OTHER WORDS FROM namby-pamby

nam·by-pam·bi·ness, nam·by-pam·by·ism, nounnam·by-pam·by·ish, adjective

Words nearby namby-pamby

Namangan, Namaqualand, namas kar, namaste, namaycush, namby-pamby, Nam Co, name, nameable, name after, nameboard
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to namby-pamby

baby, chicken, coward, jellyfish, milksop, pantywaist, sissy, weakling, wimp, wuss, cry-baby, fraidy-cat, mama's boy, quitter, scaredy-cat, wussy, yellowbelly

How to use namby-pamby in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for namby-pamby

namby-pamby
/ (ˌnæmbɪˈpæmbɪ) /
adjective
sentimental or prim in a weak insipid waynamby-pamby manners
clinging, feeble, or spinelessa namby-pamby child
noun plural -bies
a person who is namby-pamby

Word Origin for namby-pamby

C18: a nickname of Ambrose Phillips (died 1749), whose pastoral verse was ridiculed for being insipid
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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