wishy-washy

English edit

WOTD – 3 July 2010

Reduplication of washy.

wishy-washy (comparative wishy-washier or more wishy-washy, superlative wishy-washiest or most wishy-washy)

Wavering; lacking in commitment, certainty, or support; namby-pamby.
Not wanting to be pressed for details, public relations gave a wishy-washy answer.
- 2023 July 17, Rhymer Rigby, “Sick of this Conservative government? That shouldn’t stop you having Tory friends”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:
  I’m not about to vote Conservative myself (I’m a wishy-washy centrist who liked Tony Blair’s early work and has since mostly voted Labour, with an occasional swing to the Liberal Democrats and Greens) […]
Thin or watery.
The wishy-washy orange juice served by the cafeteria not only failed to be sweet; it was barely orange.
- 1915, “Maine booze turns an iron tub blue”, in The Mixer and Server:
  Usually the quality of the liquor is judged by the "bite" of it. The hotter the better. A drink of first class, aged whisky would be ridiculed in most parts of Maine as a wishy-washy beverage fit only for mollycoddles. The Down East "soak" wants something that stings and burns all the way, and usually he gets it […]
- 2006, Gipsy Petulengro, Romany Hints for Outdoor Living and Tips for Ramblers, page 7:
  And you will appreciate drinking the hot cup, or rather billy, of tea—which is more than one can call the wishy-washy concoction served up in some 'tea-houses'.

wavering or lacking in commitment, certainty, or support

thin or watery