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Synonyms

milk-and-water

American  
[milk-uhn-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈmɪlk ənˈwɔ tər, -ˈwɒt ər /

adjective

  1. ineffective; wishy-washy; lacking will or strength.


milk-and-water British  

adjective

  1. (milk and water when postpositive) weak, feeble, or 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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Usually these voluntaries were real milk-and-water affairs," he recalled, "but one day the organist did something really wild, which was thrilling.

From The Guardian Dec. 5, 2012

Paraphrasers suggested that Sir Austen meant, "A League which used raw, un-mellowed, strong-arm methods and thus antagonized its Member States would diadem sight quicker than will the present milk-and-water League."

From Time Magazine Archive

Anyway it seems to me more accurate about motherhood than the old bloodless milk-and-water Virgins of art history.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

It is not easy, of course, in these milk-and-water days to say what one means in sufficiently plain words.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98, 1890.05.10 by Various

She could climb like a cat, or a goat; and risked her neck about twenty times per diem; she sailed her shoes in her soup, and washed her hands in her milk-and-water.

From Norine's Revenge; Sir Noel's Heir by May Agnes Fleming

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