Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A man lacking courage and other qualities deemed manly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A piece of bread sopped in milk.
- noun A soft, effeminate, girlish man; one who is devoid of manliness: a term of contempt.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A piece of bread sopped in milk; figuratively, an effeminate or weak-minded person.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A piece of bread
sopped in milk. - noun by extension, pejorative A
weak , easilyfrightened orineffectual person.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Detmar is the sort of chap who would once have been described as a milksop; when Issie met him in 1988 he was 25, but so close to his mother he used to shop for her sanitary towels.
Blow by Blow: The Story of Isabella Blow by Detmar Blow Rachel Cooke 2010
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But even the most foolish swaggerer of them could not call milksop a man who could outride, outleap, outfence, outhunt him; who could drive the four horses of his coach to London and back at such a pace and in such a manner as made purple-faced old stage-coach drivers shake their heads with glee, and who, in a wrestling-match, could break a man's back at a throw if he chose to be unmerciful.
His Grace of Osmonde Being the Portions of That Nobleman's Life Omitted in the Relation of His Lady's Story Presented to the World of Fashion under the Title of A Lady of Quality Frances Hodgson Burnett 1886
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Suckling is a nickname applied to a helpless person; cf. Littlechild and "milksop," which still exists, though rare, in the forms Milsopp and Mellsop.
The Romance of Names Ernest Weekley 1909
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Riley called him "milksop," and "sap-head"; words which seemed to the dull intellect of King Pewee exceedingly witty.
The Hoosier School-boy Edward Eggleston 1869
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My young companions, who, as I have observed, had only preceded me six months in the service, were already grown old in depravity; they laughed at my squeamishness, called me, "milksop" and
Frank Mildmay The Naval Officer Frederick Marryat 1820
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My young companions, who, as I have observed, had only preceded me six months in the service, were already grown old in depravity; they laughed at my squeamishness, called me "milksop" and "boarding-school miss," and soon made me as bad as themselves.
Frank Mildmay Or, The Naval Officer Frederick Marryat 1820
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And Giles had always thought it rather far-fetched that a milksop like Desmond would have committed cold-blooded murder.
How to Woo a Reluctant Lady Deborah Gonzales 2011
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It's clear from the outset that Myra is quite mad, and even when the source of her madness is revealed, it doesn't make one feel any more sympathy for her, or for her milksop of a husband.
Creep Show Heidi Waleson 2011
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One way of ensuring that didn't happen was to put God – not some milksop supreme being but a proper, stormy God – back into buildings.
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And Giles had always thought it rather far-fetched that a milksop like Desmond would have committed cold-blooded murder.
How to Woo a Reluctant Lady Deborah Gonzales 2011
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