wishy-washy

短语
FREQ #45930

a. 淡而无味的, 空泛的

发音

UK /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɒʃ.i/
US /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɑ.ʃi/
AU
US /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɔ.ʃi/

词形变化

wishy-washier 比较级 wishy-washier wishy-washiest more wishy-washy 比较级 wishy-washiest 最高级 most wishy-washy 最高级

释义与例句

adj.
  1. 1.

    Wavering; lacking in commitment, certainty, support, and (often) clarity; namby-pamby.

    Near-synonyms: vacillating, vacillatory

    Not wanting to be pressed for details, public relations gave a wishy-washy answer.

  2. 2.

    Thin or watery.

    Near-synonyms: watered-down, diluted, dilute

    The wishy-washy orange juice served by the cafeteria not only failed to be sweet; it was barely orange.

词汇关系

形容词

同义词 3

spineless gutless namby-pamby

词源

Reduplication of washy; more at Wikipedia under ablaut reduplication. The wish portion of the term is explained much more by the ablaut reduplication than by any coincidental semantic appropriateness (such as that wishy-washy people wish that they could have it both ways), although the latter effect may play some nonzero cognitive role in word-finding. Compare also swish, swash, splish, and splash regarding any possible sound symbolism.

来源：wiktionary