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English
Etymology
From namby-pamby + -ical.
Adjective
namby-pambical (comparative more namby-pambical, superlative most namby-pambical)
- (rare) Like or resembling a namby-pamby; lacking vigor or decisiveness, wishy-washy.
1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon, →ISBN:“Of course, – I am being far too nice, aye and no doubt namby-pambical as well, – ha ha, ha, – after all, what’s being confin’d upon the Summit of a living Volcanoe whose History includes violent Explosion, hey? […] ”
- (uncommon, archaic) Having a namby-pamby character; insipid, sentimental, or weak.
1831, John Wesley, edited by John Emory, The Works of the Reverend John Wesley, A. M., Letter to Charles Wesley, December 26, 1761, →OCLC, page 663:Pray tell R. Sheen, I am hugely displeased at his reprinting the Nativity Hymns, and omitting the very best hymn in the collection—All glory to God in the sky, &c. I beg they may never more be printed without it. Omit one or two and I will thank you. They are namby-pambical. I wish you would give us two or three invitatory hymns.
1848, “The New Hymn Book”, in The Quarterly Review of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, volume II, page 104:The 4th stanza is rather namby-pambical; the sentiment is much better expressed in the 5th.
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