wishy-washy

Reduplication of washy.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɒʃ.i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɔ.ʃi/, /ˈwɪʃ.iˌwɑ.ʃi/

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wishy-washy (comparative wishy-washier or more wishy-washy, superlative wishy-washiest or most wishy-washy)

1. Wavering; lacking in commitment, certainty, or support; namby-pamby.

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

   • 2023 July 17, Rhymer Rigby, “Sick of this Conservative government? That shouldn’t stop you having Tory friends”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     I’m not about to vote Conservative myself (I’m a wishy-washy centrist who liked Tony Blair’s early work and has since mostly voted Labour, with an occasional swing to the Liberal Democrats and Greens) […]

2. Thin or watery.

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

   • 1915, “Maine booze turns an iron tub blue”, in The Mixer and Server:

     Usually the quality of the liquor is judged by the "bite" of it. The hotter the better. A drink of first class, aged whisky would be ridiculed in most parts of Maine as a wishy-washy beverage fit only for mollycoddles. The Down East "soak" wants something that stings and burns all the way, and usually he gets it […]

   • 2006, Gipsy Petulengro, Romany Hints for Outdoor Living and Tips for Ramblers, page 7:

     And you will appreciate drinking the hot cup, or rather billy, of tea—which is more than one can call the wishy-washy concoction served up in some 'tea-houses'.