1700-1800 Name given to the English poet Ambrose Philips (1674-1749) to make fun of him
Examples
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
In the end, the Beast turns back into a namby-pamby prince.
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
There are, after all, considerations of taste or, if that's too namby-pamby, of simple decency.
too weak and gentle and not strict or tough enough: For some people soccer has a reputation as a rather namby-pamby sport.—namby-pamby noun [countable]