Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Mealy-mouthed

Mealy-mouthed , adjective

Using soft words; not straightforward; plausible; affectedly or timidly delicate of speech; speaking deviously; unwilling to tell the truth in plain language. Opposite of frank or blunt.
Mealy-mouthed philanthropies. — Tennyson
She was a fool to be mealy-mouthed where nature speaks so plain. — L'Estrange