Dictionary

milquetoast en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɪlk.ʈoːst/ (India) toe–tow merger
• /ˈmɪlk.toʊ̯st/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈmɪlk.ʈɔ(ː)wst/ (India) without the toe–tow merger
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈmɪlk.təʊ̯st/
• /ˈmɪlk.təʉ̯st/ (Australia)
• mĭlk′tōst
• /ˈmɪlk.ʈoː(w)st/ (India)
• /ˈməlk.tɐʉ̯st/ (New-Zealand)
• /ˈmɪlk.təʊ̯st/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈmɪlk.tost/ (Scotland)

Etymology

Etymology tree Frenchder. Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-der. Proto-Germanic *meluks Proto-West Germanic *meluk Old English meolc Middle English milk English milk English milque Proto-Indo-European *ters- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *tr̥stós Proto-Italic *torstos Latin tostus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Late Latin tostō Old French tosterbor. Middle English tostendeverb. Middle English tost English toast English milquetoast Named after Caspar Milquetoast, a character from the comic strip The Timid Soul, created by American cartoonist Harold Tucker Webster (1885–1952) and first published in 1924; the character was named after the American dish milk toast (“a food consisting of toasted bread in warm milk”), from milque (pseudo-Gallicism derived from English milk) + toast.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, informal) Meek, timid; lacking character or effectiveness.
   • Ricky [Nelson] was the perfect commodity: an artist who did not upset milktoast America. He was Elvis [Presley] without grease, without swinging hips. 2008, Gerard DeGroot, “Meet the New Boss”, in The 60s Unplugged: A Kaleidoscopic History of a Disorderly Decade, London: Macmillan, →ISBN; paperback edition, London: Pan Books, 2009, →ISBN, page 393:
   • If Bach had any guts, he wouldn't take that. He's too much of a Milquetoast guy. 1961, Edward C[hristie] Banfield, “The Mythology of Influence”, in Political Influence, Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press of Glencoe, →OCLC; republished New Brunswick, N.J.; London: Transaction Publishers, 2003 (2009 printing), →ISBN, page 302:
   • Moreover, "Eva" boasts little style beyond what its biggest star is able to bring to the table. Viewers hoping for more of the milquetoast elegance that [Benoît] Jacquot previously brought to the likes of "Farewell, My Queen" and "Diary of a Chambermaid" will be disappointed. 2018 February 18, David Ehrlich, “‘Eva’ Review: Not Even Isabelle Huppert Playing an Irritated Prostitute Can Save this Limp Melodrama”, in IndieWire, archived from the original on 16 Apr 2019:
   • [Al] Lettieri turns [Sally] Struthers on and she strokes his big gun and waves it (and her big tits) in his face and flaunts her partiality for the tough thug Lettieri over her milquetoast husband. 2001, Barry Gifford, “The Getaway”, in Out of the Past: Adventures in Film Noir, revised edition, Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi, →ISBN, page 68:
   • I should have listened to my mother when she told me to stay out of journalism because of idiot milquetoast jerk reporters like you! 1994, William G. Lycan, “Fiction and Essence”, in Modality and Meaning, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, →ISBN, section 4 (The Modal Properties of Fictional Individuals), page 115:
   • Like that well-meaning mom, parents employ Milquetoast speech whenever they whine, complain, plead, entreat, entice, bribe, and explain themselves persuasively. 2007, John Rosemond, “Command, Compel, Confirm”, in Mary McNeil, editor, Parenting by the Book: Biblical Wisdom for Raising Your Child, New York, N.Y.: Howard Books, →ISBN, part 3 (Discipline), page 239:
   • The truth is that we are cursed with a "milquetoast" Government operating under "milquetoast" policies. Fear has become a national policy. 1951 July 29, Donald W[illiam] Nicholson, quoting Joseph W[illiam] Martin Jr., “Extension of Remarks of Donald W. Nicholson of Massachusetts in the House of Representatives”, in Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 82d Congress, First Session: Appendix (United States House of Representatives), volume 97, part 14, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, published 31 July 1951, →ISSN, →OCLC, page A4814, column 1:
   • And if Dick Leonard didn't appreciate Patrick's incisive criticism—if it inspired a streak of vindictiveness in his usually milquetoast boss and Dick ended up making his assistant's life miserable? 2016, Christopher Kelly, The Pink Bus, Mapple Shade, N.J.: Lethe Press, →ISBN, page 80:

Forms

Synonyms

feeble · ineffectual · insipid

milquetoast en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɪlk.ʈoːst/ (India) toe–tow merger
• /ˈmɪlk.toʊ̯st/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈmɪlk.ʈɔ(ː)wst/ (India) without the toe–tow merger
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈmɪlk.təʊ̯st/
• /ˈmɪlk.təʉ̯st/ (Australia)
• mĭlk′tōst
• /ˈmɪlk.ʈoː(w)st/ (India)
• /ˈməlk.tɐʉ̯st/ (New-Zealand)
• /ˈmɪlk.təʊ̯st/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈmɪlk.tost/ (Scotland)

Etymology

Etymology tree Frenchder. Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-der. Proto-Germanic *meluks Proto-West Germanic *meluk Old English meolc Middle English milk English milk English milque Proto-Indo-European *ters- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *tr̥stós Proto-Italic *torstos Latin tostus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Late Latin tostō Old French tosterbor. Middle English tostendeverb. Middle English tost English toast English milquetoast Named after Caspar Milquetoast, a character from the comic strip The Timid Soul, created by American cartoonist Harold Tucker Webster (1885–1952) and first published in 1924; the character was named after the American dish milk toast (“a food consisting of toasted bread in warm milk”), from milque (pseudo-Gallicism derived from English milk) + toast.

Meanings

1. (derogatory, informal) A person of meek or timid disposition; a person who lacks character or effectiveness.
   • The Milquetoasts of this world seldom wake up in time to get tough effectively, Mr. [Harold Tucker] Webster fears. [...] Webster considers him a worthy citizen—of the kind that had better begin to show a little more spunk before it is too late. 1939 October 21, Alexandra Kropotkin, “To the Ladies”, in Fulton Oursler, editor, Liberty, volume 16, number 42, New York, N.Y.: Liberty Publishing, →OCLC, page 51, column 1:
   • We know that theology must be common to all believers, but again we also know that some enjoy only milquetoast (german milchspeise), while others can eat solid food, and that one and the same truth is apprehended in different ways, for it is not possible to accommodate all these ways to the grasp of all, while not depriving them of the truth itself. 1895, “The twenty-second Psalm”, in Dr. Martin Luther’s Complete Writings (english translation), St. Louis, Mo.; []: Ministry of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio and other States., column 1231:
   • Of the thirteen films he [Douglas Fairbanks] made independently, the most noteworthy was WILD AND WOOLLY (1917), a melodramatic story about an Eastern milquetoast who becomes a frontier hero. 1990, Frank Manchel, “A Representative Period of American Film (1913–1919)”, in Film Study: An Analytical Bibliography, volume 2, Rutherford; Madison, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; London; Toronto, Ont.: Associated University Presses, →ISBN, page 1400:
   • When the verdict comes down, the transformation of the wunderkind founder of Theranos from black-clad genius to besuited milquetoast will be an integral part of the story. 2021 December 17, Vanessa Friedman, “The Verdict on the Elizabeth Holmes Trial Makeover”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 Apr 2022:
   • [Clare Boothe Luce] was no woman to be married to a milquetoast, and Henry R[obinson] Luce, cofounder and colorful, forceful honcho of the nascent Time empire, was anything but that. 1996, Louis Baldwin, “Clare Boothe Luce: Powerful Politician (1903–1987)”, in Women of Strength: Biographies of 106 who have Excelled in Traditional Male Fields, A.D. 61 to the Present, Jefferson, N.C.; London: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 42:
   • The Milquetoasts of this world are the victims of the steamrollers. I used to be numbered among the Milquetoasts and was periodically used or flattened! I came to realize, however, that even though Christians are to be humble and cooperative, they also are accountable to God to use their time wisely, to do what He wants them to do, and to stand up for what is right and biblical. 1988, Muriel Larson, Me and My Pet Peeves, Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman Press, →ISBN, page 79:
   • Initially, our heroine hooks up with some milktoast of a guy with lots of money and little personality. Then he comes along—a man she can't push over, a man her wealth and social position can't influence. 2004, Elizabeth A. Ford, Deborah C. Mitchell, “The Ladder of Class”, in The Makeover in Movies: Before and After in Hollywood Films, 1941–2002, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 91:
   • That scientists favored international control of the atom made conservatives even more mistrustful. J[ohn] Parnell Thomas rued the surrender of control to such "a group of milktoasts." 1990, Richard M. Fried, “Two Eras, and Some Victims”, in Nightmare in Red: The McCarthy Era in Perspective, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN; paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1991, →ISBN:

Forms

Deriveds

milquetoasty

Relateds

milk drinker

Synonyms

big girl's blouse · milquetoast · sissy · wuss · wimp · namby · softy · poon · pussy · softy · crybaby · pansy · pantywaist · nestle-cock · candy-ass · namby-pamby · milksop · weenie · wimp · pushover · wuss · punk · tenderling · candy-arse · wussy · weakling

Translations (15)

it timido (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · es tímido retraído (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · no svekling (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · it pavido (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · fi hissukka (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · de Angsthase (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · fi hiirulainen (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · de Hasenfuß (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · ba мәмәй (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · it remissivo (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · pt molenga (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · no veiking (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · pt banana (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · sh mlakonja (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness) · yi לעמעשקע (person of meek or timid disposition; person who lacks character or effectiveness)