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Definition of namby-pamby adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

namby-pamby

adjective

/ˌnæmbi ˈpæmbi/

/ˌnæmbi ˈpæmbi/

(informal, disapproving)

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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.

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noun

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