milksop

American  

[milk-sop] / ˈmɪlkˌsɒp /

noun

1. a weak or ineffectual person.

   Synonyms:

   wimp, namby-pamby, softy, milquetoast

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milksop British  

/ ˈmɪlkˌsɒp /

noun

1. a feeble or ineffectual man or youth

2. a dish of bread soaked in warm milk, given esp to infants and invalids

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Other Word Forms

• milksopism noun
• milksopping adjective
• milksoppy adjective

Etymology

Origin of milksop

1350–1400; Middle English. See milk, sop

Example Sentences

In any case, the new trio's dynamic works – beginning with Tennant's beleagured version of Fogg, a man of precision and privilege who's also seen as a milksop by his Reform Club peers.

From Salon • Jan. 2, 2022

Thorne has a little list: "I still call people nincompoops, mainly to amuse my kids - lickspittle, twerp or milksop."

From BBC • Dec. 2, 2013

Poor David Hallberg, who as Des Grieux is given perhaps Mr. Neumeier’s most antimusical choreography, was made up to look like a spectral milksop.

From New York Times • May 26, 2010

In your article you imply that Prince Bismarck is "commonplace," "Babbitt-tailored," a "fop," a "milksop."

From Time Magazine Archive

So we went ahead fearlessly, and our first encounter with one of their kind was not calculated to terrify us--a beardless milksop, half-starved and frozen.

From For the Right by Franzos, Karl Emil