namby-pamby
adjective /ˌnæmbi ˈpæmbi/
/ˌnæmbi ˈpæmbi/
(informal, disapproving)- weak and too emotional
- He rejected any affection as namby-pamby nonsense.
Word Originmid 18th cent.: fanciful formation based on the given name of Ambrose Philips (died 1749), an English writer whose pastoral poems were ridiculed by Pope and others.