1
as in bland
lacking in qualities that make for spirit and character
she's such a namby-pamby nothing that it's no wonder she's never asked out
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in weak
lacking strength of will or character
mocked namby-pamby intellectuals who endlessly debate the pros and cons of everything and invariably end up accomplishing nothing
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in coward
a person without strength of character
those namby-pambies at city hall are never going to get serious about our crime problem
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Recent Examples of namby-pamby
John B. Judis, The New Republic, 19 Mar. 2023
Adjective
Walzer’s dissent was namby-pamby.
—John B. Judis, The New Republic, 19 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for namby-pamby
Adjective
-
In addition, the vehicle chases feel a little too much on rails and bland.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
17 June 2026
-
Because squash is already about 95% water, cooking it in water turns its mild sweetness bland.—
Kelly Brant,
Arkansas Online,
16 June 2026
Adjective
-
But lingering high ticket prices combined with weaker teams might mean sparse attendance.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
19 June 2026
-
Tokyo wants to appear to be fighting a weak yen, while welcoming it in private.—
William Pesek,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
Noun
-
Fishback showed up at a Donalds campaign event in Lake City on Saturday with a bunch of supporters, shouting through a bullhorn that Donalds was a coward for not debating him and telling him to go back to New York, a reference to Donalds’ childhood in Brooklyn.—
Jeffrey Schweers,
The Orlando Sentinel,
21 June 2026
-
Tyland may have gotten Triarchy pirate Admiral Sharako Lohar on Team Green’s side, but at his core this man is a coward.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
19 June 2026
Adjective
-
Sometimes safe and boring can be a winning strategy.—
Nina Bambysheva,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
-
The cause can be something as simple as a lack of water or more complex, like fungal wilt diseases, tomato wilt viruses, walnut toxicity, or boring insects.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
17 June 2026
Adjective
-
But so do bursts of color, softer fabrics and strange patterns.—
Precious Fondren,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2026
-
Puff sleeves, a scalloped hem, lace trim, and eyelet detailing give this top a soft, feminine edge.—
Jill Layton,
PEOPLE,
19 June 2026
Noun
-
And this name sounds like a wimp to me.—
Kathleen Perricone,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 May 2026
-
What unites these movements is a shared contempt for the moderate, who is dismissed as cowardly, unprincipled, or insincere: wimps who inexplicably hate winning.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Faced with insipid economic growth, politicians have not taken the action necessary to spark a resurgence, such as capital and digital markets reform, lower levels of regulation and lower business taxes.—
Kamal Ahmed,
Fortune,
21 May 2026
-
More boos followed after the final whistle with Slot’s side serving up another insipid home performance.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
9 May 2026
Adjective
-
Treatment wiped out the cancer, but Lucy's weakened body had another ailment, one that stopped her from making stem cells, blood or platelets.—
Siafa Lewis,
CBS News,
17 June 2026
-
Children, people older than 65 and those with weakened immune systems can develop severe infections.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Namby-pamby.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/namby-pamby. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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