pantywaist
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Adjective[edit]
pantywaist (not comparable)
- (informal, especially of a male person) Weak, timid, effeminate, ineffectual.
- His rough, burly father was mortified by the lad's pantywaist behavior.
Noun[edit]
pantywaist (plural pantywaists)
- (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.
- (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[edit]
- (weak person): nestle-cock, softy, wuss; see also Thesaurus:milksop
Related terms[edit]
References[edit]
- “pantywaist”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.