wet noodle
Americannoun
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a limp, moist noodle, either one that has been cooked and taken out of the water, or one that has just been made from dough and not yet dried.
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any person or thing thought of as ineffectual or lacking strength, force, firmness, character, etc.
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In full, lashes with a wet noodle. a punishment so mild as to be no punishment at all.
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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.
“He got pissed off and stomped around… he’s got a wet noodle for a backbone.”
From Fox News ● Dec. 6, 2019
Like, smacking Mike Tyson with a wet noodle probably isn’t going to work out for you.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2019
Without it I am a wet noodle, and I don’t mean, like, rigatoni, which is at least a tube.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2016
A custard and a bread pudding were both draped with a milk jam that reminded me of a wet noodle.
From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2016
Peach was like a silent wet noodle the whole time.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
Definitions 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.
