Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Namby-pamby

Namby-pamby , noun

[From Ambrose Phillips, in ridicule of the extreme simplicity of some of his verses.]

Talk or writing which is weakly sentimental or affectedly pretty. — Macaulay

Namby-pamby , adjective

1.
Affectedly pretty; weakly sentimental; finical; insipid. — Thackeray
Namby-pamby madrigals of love. — W. Gifford
2.
Indecisive or weak; lacking firmness or resolve; -- of actions and policies.