milquetoasts
Spineless, meek types
Milquetoasts are timid, unassertive people who avoid confrontation and defer to others.
The word comes from Caspar Milquetoast, a comic strip character created in 1924 whose name deliberately evoked milk toast—bland invalid food.
The committee was full of milquetoasts who wouldn't challenge the chairman.
The singular milquetoast works as noun or adjective: a milquetoast response.
Lacking courage or confidence
- meekHumbly unassertive
- submissiveReadily yielding to control
- spinelessLacking courage or resolve
- weak-willedLacking determination or resolve
unassertive · passive · cowardly · feeble · pushover · doormat · wishy-washy · ineffectual
Those easily persuaded
- yes-menAutomatic approval-givers
- doormatsThreshold foot-wipers
- people-pleasersThose prioritizing others' approval
- wallflowersTimid party attendees
shrinking violets · appeasers · sycophants · followers · conformists · brown-nosers · bootlickers · lackeys
Animated or humorous illustration
- archetypeOriginal model for copies
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
- comic stripSerialized newspaper cartoon panels
1920s · antihero · satirical · everyman · nervous wreck · henpecked · bumbling
timid
Lacking courage or confidence
- meekHumbly unassertive
- submissiveReadily yielding to control
- spinelessLacking courage or resolve
weak-willed · unassertive · passive · cowardly · feeble · pushover · doormat · wishy-washy · ineffectual · mousy
pushovers
Those easily persuaded
- yes-menAutomatic approval-givers
- doormatsThreshold foot-wipers
- people-pleasersThose prioritizing others' approval
wallflowers · shrinking violets · appeasers · sycophants · followers · conformists · brown-nosers · bootlickers · lackeys · flatterers
cartoon
Animated or humorous illustration
- archetypeOriginal model for copies
- stereotypeFixed oversimplified notion
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
comic strip · 1920s · antihero · satirical · everyman · nervous wreck · henpecked · bumbling
milquetoastsfirebrands
Passionate agents of change
firebrand · go-getters · alpha males · alphas · hotshots
milquetoastsstrongmen
Authoritarian rulers or muscular performers
alpha males · alpha females · leaders · bosses · commanders