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namby pamby

 - 3 dictionary results

nam⋅by-pam⋅by

  [nam-bee-pam-bee] adjective, noun, plural -bies for 4.
Use namby pamby in a Sentence
–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
4. a namby-pamby person: written by and for namby-pambies.
5. namby-pamby sentiment: the harmless namby-pamby of a birthday card.
6. namby-pamby verse or prose.
Origin:
1726; rhyming compound based on the first syll. of Ambrose Philips; first used as a nickname for Philips in the title of a poem by Henry Carey (1687?–1743) ridiculing his verse

Related forms:
nam⋅by-pam⋅bi⋅ness, nam⋅by-pam⋅by⋅ism, noun
nam⋅by-pam⋅by⋅ish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
namby-pamby [ˈnæmbiˈpæmbi]

  1. mod.
    overly nice; effeminate and weak, when said of a male. : Fred is too namby-pamby when it comes to making up his mind.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

namby-pamby 
1726, satiric nickname of Eng. poet Ambrose Philips (1674-1749) mocking his sentimental pastorals addressed to infant members of the nobility. Used first in a farce credited to Carey; in general sense of "weakly sentimental, insipidly pretty" it is attested from 1745.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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