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niminy-piminy

American  
[nim-uh-nee-pim-uh-nee] / ˈnɪm ə niˈpɪm ə ni /

adjective

  1. affectedly delicate or refined; mincing; effeminate.

    A niminy-piminy shyness makes frankness impossible.


niminy-piminy British  
/ ˈnɪmɪnɪˈpɪmɪnɪ /

adjective

  1. excessively refined; prim

"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

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of niminy-piminy

1795–1805; rhyming compound; cf. namby-pamby

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:

She'll do the work of a half dozen niminy-piminy dolls like Leighton.

From Miss Pat at School by Pemberton Ginther

Inside were many fine pictures, not in the niminy-piminy manner, but strong, full-coloured, and just.

From The Path to Rome by Hilaire Belloc

So we’ll all have to walk just niminy-piminy till then.

From Dorothy's Travels by S. Schneider

You would have sung to a very different tune if I had whistled to you before this niminy-piminy parson showed his face here!

From The New Rector by Stanley John Weyman

She had given up Beethoven and all the men of might, and had cultivated the niminy-piminy school, which is to music as sunflowers and blue china are to art.

From The Golden Calf by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

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