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