pantywaist

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

pantywaist (not comparable)

1. (informal, especially of a male person) Weak, timid, effeminate, ineffectual.

   His rough, burly father was mortified by the lad's pantywaist behavior.

Noun

pantywaist (plural pantywaists)

1. (informal, dated) An undergarment composed, in part, of panties attached to a waistband.
   • 1929 April 29, “The Altman Sale of Children's Underwear”, in The New York Times, display advertisement, page 16:

     Lace trimmed panty waists—50 cents.

2. (informal, derogatory) An ineffectual, weak, or timid person, especially a boy or young man; a sissy.
   • 1943 January 24, Hal Borland, “'Baedekers' for Our Fighters: So you're going abroad, says Uncle Sam”, in The New York Times, page SM14:

     Don't be misled by the British tendency to be soft-spoken and polite. The English language didn't spread across the oceans and over the mountains and jungles and swamps because these people were pantywaists.

Synonyms

• (weak person): nestle-cock, softy, wuss; see also Thesaurus:milksop

Related terms

• man panties

References

• “pantywaist”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.