namby-pamby

[ nam-bee-pam-bee ]

adjective

1. without firm methods or policy; weak or indecisive:

   namby-pamby handling of juvenile offenders.

2. lacking in character, directness, or moral or emotional strength:

   namby-pamby writing.

3. weakly sentimental, pretentious, or affected; insipid.

noun

, plural nam·by-pam·bies

1. a namby-pamby person:

   written by and for namby-pambies.

2. namby-pamby sentiment:

   the harmless namby-pamby of a birthday card.

3. namby-pamby verse or prose.

namby-pamby

/ ˌnæmbɪˈpæmbɪ /

adjective

1. sentimental or prim in a weak insipid way

   namby-pamby manners

2. clinging, feeble, or spineless

   a namby-pamby child

noun

1. a person who is namby-pamby

Other Words From

• namby-pambi·ness namby-pamby·ism noun
• namby-pamby·ish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of namby-pamby¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of namby-pamby¹

C18: a nickname of Ambrose Phillips (died 1749), whose pastoral verse was ridiculed for being insipid

Example Sentences

Boring teams, lousy quarterbacks, and namby-pamby rules are making the National Football League unwatchable.

From The Daily Beast

Why did you make us walk in front, namby-pamby so, Papa dear?

From Project Gutenberg

Was this the cousin whom she had considered a sort of namby-pamby, goody-goody girl who would be easily controlled?

From Project Gutenberg

Neither Boers or natives understand our namby-pamby way of playing at government; they put it down to fear.

From Project Gutenberg

Get out o my way, the pair o you, and let me blow out o this namby-pamby, Sunday-school dump!

From Project Gutenberg

Its composition is in the namby-pamby taste of Pleyels time, and will never suit the taste of the present day.

From Project Gutenberg