THE FIRST WORD

milksop

PRONUNCIATION:

(MILK-sop) 

MEANING:

noun: One who is timid or indecisive.

ETYMOLOGY:

A milksop is, literally, a piece of bread soaked in milk, a diet considered suitable for babies and the sick. A synonym of this term is milquetoast. Earliest documented use: 1390.

USAGE:

"This is for the milksop who does not want a mouse in the house but is too timid or pious to do anything about it."
Nicholas Lezard; Down and Out; New Statesman (London, UK); Mar 27, 2013.