milksop
English
Etymology
From Middle English milksop, mylk sop, mylke soppe, equivalent to milk + sop.
Pronunciation
Noun
milksop (plural milksops)
- A piece of bread sopped in milk.
- A dish consisting of bread pieces in a bowl, sprinkled with sugar and covered in hot milk.
- (by extension, derogatory) An easily frightened, ineffectual, or weak person.
- Synonyms: milquetoast, sissy, wuss; see also Thesaurus:milksop
- c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act V, scene vi]:
- And vvho doth lead them but a paltrey fellovv? / Long kept in Brittaine at our mothers coſt, / A milkeſopt, one that neuer in his life / Felt ſo much colde as ouer ſhooes in ſnovv: […]
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XVI, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
- “That milksop of a creature pretend to be worthy of such a woman as Mrs. Pendennis,” broke out the Doctor: “where will impudence stop next!”
Derived terms
Translations
piece of bread in milk
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dish consisting of bread pieces sprinkled with sugar and covered with milk
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easily frightened, ineffectual, or weak person
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