milquetoast
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of milquetoast
1935–40, after Caspar Milquetoast, a character in The Timid Soul, comic strip by H. T. Webster (1885–1952), American cartoonist
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.
The milquetoast Pod Save America boys made him a recurring guest; California Gov. Gavin Newsom vowed to drop by the stream.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
Becerra’s campaign leaned into his milquetoast persona and crowned him Tío Xavier — Uncle Xavier — to market him as a non-threatening moderate who happened to be Latino.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
The 85-year-old label, tagged by the Observer as once being “synonymous with a particularly milquetoast suburban sensibility,” today posts fast-growing sales among famously fickle Gen Z shoppers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
Like King, the Bainbridge pastor was not advocating a milquetoast approach to governing.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 14, 2024
Maybe if Congress were run by a serious comic rather than a milquetoast politician, we might do better.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2023
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
