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pamby

pamby

4 9.9
A person who is weak and lacks courage or strength
  • noun
  • Offensive
translation icon : pusilánime
  • You don't want to be the kind of namby-pamby team that never has a penalty.
  • namby-pamby

Examples

  • He was too much of a pamby to stand up for himself during the argument.

  • No one respected him because he was known as a pamby who always avoided confrontation.

  • It's a bunch of namby pamby stuff if you ask me.

  • And while we soldiers go out there, fight, bleed, and die for the colony, the namby-pamby workers live it up back home.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • If he does nothing, people say, "Oh, he's namby-pamby and didn't do anything to fight the beast while he could have."

    Blog text (12)
  • A namby-pamby who dares not leave this village, a catchpenny who's afraid even of the sea.

  • I don't have time for "namby-pamby" crybabies who want everybody else to carry their baggage.

    Blog text (14)
  • Stiffens resolve, puckers the spirit, quells the namby-pamby in a man.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The director described the character as a pamby who couldn't handle the pressure of the military role.

Synonyms

weakling
vspamby
  • Offensive
24 4.4

A person who has little body strength and gets tired easily

focuses on lacking courage or resolve rather than just physical weakness
wussy
vspamby
  • Offensive
10 9.3

A person who is too afraid to try things

describes weakness without the strong slang or insult
namby
vspamby
  • Offensive
2 9.9

A person who is too weak or afraid to act

is a neutral description focusing on lack of courage or strength
nebbish
vspamby
  • Offensive
2 9.9

A person who is shy, quiet, and often seen by others as weak

is the same lack of strength but without the pitying or contemptuous tone
cowardly lion
vspamby
1 7.7

A person expected to be brave but who acts afraid

is about general weakness rather than the ironic expectation of bravery
mimsy
vspamby
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A person who is shy and lacks courage

is similar but stated plainly, not playfully or humorously

Antonyms

1.1

A person admired for brave actions and good qualities

2 5.6

A man who shows great physical strength by doing acts like bending steel

How Brave

hero
  • Literature
124 5.5
brave
906 1.0
pamby
  • Offensive
4 9.9
coward
  • Offensive
584 2.3

Surface Forms

pamby singular
pambies plural

Etymology

Pamby as a noun can be pictured as a pampered baby — someone made soft and unable to act. So, a pamby is a person who is 'weak' or 'not brave'.