niminy-piminy

American

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

adjective

affectedly delicate or refined; mincing; effeminate.

A niminy-piminy shyness makes frankness impossible.

niminy-piminy British

/ ˈnɪmɪnɪˈpɪmɪnɪ /

adjective

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

niminy-pimininess noun
niminy-piminyism noun

Etymology

Origin of niminy-piminy

1795–1805; rhyming compound; 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.

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 Project Gutenberg

Powerful bard, Gray! but a niminy-piminy creature, afraid of a petticoat and a bottle—not a man, sir, not a man!

From Project Gutenberg

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 Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023