namby-pamby

Questions about namby-pamby

What does namby-pamby mean?

namby-pamby means "an insipid weakling who is foolishly sentimental". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in namby-pamby?

namby-pamby has 4 syllables: nam-by--pam-by. The stress falls on "nam". In IPA it is /ˈnæmbiˈpæmbi/.

What is another word for namby-pamby?

Close synonyms include gutless, spineless, wishy-washy. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is namby-pamby a common word?

namby-pamby is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.