wishy-washy

wishy-washy

1. informal Irresolute, indecisive, or wavering. Right now is not the time to be wishy-washy about this. We need to act, and now! Martha always gets so wishy-washy when I ask her to make a decision about the project.
2. informal Spineless, weak-willed, or ineffectual; lacking courage, resilience, or strength of character. He always talks big when we're on our own, but he turns into a wishy-washy wimp whenever the boss calls him up on something. The senator was elected for his strength and determination, but he's proven to be very wishy-washy in office.
3. informal Weak, watery, or thin. I don't know why you drink this wishy-washy beer. Why not get something with a bit more kick to it, something you can actually taste? The soup was wishy-washy and the steak was as tough as leather. I certainly won't be going back there any time soon.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

wishy-washy

(ˈwɪʃiˈwɑʃi)
mod. indecisive; insipid; weak. Don’t be such a wishy-washy wimp.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • be wishy-washy
  • washy
  • wishy
  • on and off
  • off again, on again
  • on again
  • on again, off again
  • have half a notion to (do something)
  • have half a notion to do
  • notion
References in periodicals archive
There is a sweet-spot between impulse and inaction, between impetuousness and overthinking, between being rash and bring wishy-washy. That is where all decision-makers would, ideally, want to be.
After two fine coats, the colour was still pretty wishy-washy, but three coats (one more than I''d usually paint on) created a luxe lemon yellow to contrast with my tanned fingers.
Wishy-washy liberals might not like it, but such policing must include far more stopping and searching of lads deemed by cops to be the sort who might carry a knife.
RATING: 3/5 Wild About Beauty Seasonal Nail Polish in Michael, PS9 for 10ml (www.wildaboutbeauty.com) ONE coat creates a wishy-washy coverage but two leave a lustrous, almost matte black that didn't chip.
This is the cue for the film to become a wishy-washy romance as the youngsters - a bunch of Marxists with money - head off to find themselves.
More importantly the 'new'' festival must not be subject to the wishy-washy health and safety weather watchers who cancelled last year''s event.
Fiercely protected by Aurora throughout childhood, Emma's love-hate relationship with her mother sours when she marries wishy-washy college teacher Flap (Jeff Daniels).
For the past several elections you have passed over good, pro-rights, pro-Constitution candidates--or never come up with any--in favor of wishy-washy "moderates" with poll-based values and elastic principles.
"Warren is trying to get them away from that wishy-washy perception," he said.
Wishy-washy is a term that I am using with increased frequency, these days.
It's the total vision of the dude who subtly infused great records from Vietnam and Elvis Costello, among others, with his modernized, less wishy-washy version of '60s free love.
At first, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's reaction to Saddam Hussein's imminent hanging sounds a little wishy-washy. Blair reiterated his own opposition to capital punishment but also said the sentence ''does give us a very clear reminder of the total and barbaric brutality of that regime.''
The government postponed action on climate destabilization and tried to cover their tracks with a wishy-washy anti-pollution program.
There is considerable evidence that Dubya thought his real father was wishy-washy. I suspect he was looking for a strong father, that Cheney perceived this need, and that Cheney realized that if he filled that role, he would practically become president himself--or at least have far more influence than most vice presidents.
The beauty of learning in an environment steeped in Catholicism versus a wishy-washy quasi-Catholic school system which at best is fluff and at worst is corrupt are the options to choose from.