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

namby-pambies 

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 Word Forms

• namby-pambiness noun
• namby-pambyism noun
• namby-pambyish 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

She gives every impression she might regard that nickname as a bit wishy-washy, a bit namby-pamby.

From BBC

“We need a food czar who’s tough, not these namby-pamby bureaucrats that don’t really want to ruffle any feathers.”

From New York Times

The tackle was brilliant and set the tone for a proper game of football and not this namby-pamby interpretation of what modernists think the game should be.

From BBC

Viewers are led to believe that, by refusing to get the shot, they're getting one over on those namby-pamby Democrats.

From Salon

One that emphasizes the physical over namby-pamby paper-pushing, and speaks to old stereotypes of virility, strength and machismo.

From New York Times