1
of a person
: timid, meek, or unassertive
Do we really want a someone who is a milquetoast halfhearted candidate or someone who will defend the Constitution with every fiber of her being?—
Dana B. Orr
Dana B. Orr2
: lacking in character or vigor : wishy-washy
… after declining multiple opportunities to comment during the reporting of the story, he finally produced a most milquetoast statement Friday.—Jerry Brewer
Jerry Brewer
Did you know?
Why is it milquetoast, and not milk toast?
Caspar Milquetoast is a comic strip character created in 1924 by cartoonist Harold T. Webster. Beginning a few years after the character's debut, the term milquetoast came to describe a timid or meek person. Caspar's last name is fitting because milk toast is a weak, bland concoction of buttered toast served in a dish of warm milk.
Examples of milquetoast in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025
Ian McEwan explored this gray territory in his novel Machines Like Me, where his milquetoast protagonist smilingly tolerates his robot's romantic overtures toward his love interest—until the threat of displacement becomes all too real.
—Silvia Park, TIME, 10 Mar. 2025
Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 10 Sep. 2024
President Biden and Speaker McCarthy came to terms on a rather milquetoast bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling.
—David Harsanyi, National Review, 8 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for milquetoast
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Noun
The always-bold, always-hyper Daffy is incorrigibly incompetent, while shy milquetoast Porky is too busy nursing a crush on beautiful gum-flavor scientist Petunia Pig (voiced by Candi Milo) to ever really accomplish much.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025
Ian McEwan explored this gray territory in his novel Machines Like Me, where his milquetoast protagonist smilingly tolerates his robot's romantic overtures toward his love interest—until the threat of displacement becomes all too real.
—Silvia Park, TIME, 10 Mar. 2025
Adjective
McNairy convincingly plays a maddeningly milquetoast character whose indecision infuriates his wife and, by extension, the audience.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 10 Sep. 2024
President Biden and Speaker McCarthy came to terms on a rather milquetoast bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling.
—David Harsanyi, National Review, 8 June 2023
See All Example Sentences for milquetoast
Cite this Entry
“Milquetoast.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milquetoast. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025.
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