milquetoast

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 8, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>milquetoast</strong> &#149; \MILK-tohst\&nbsp; &#149; <em>noun</em><br /> <p>A <em>milquetoast</em> is a timid, meek, or unassertive person.</p> <p>// The sales manager is not a <em>milquetoast</em>: when she sees an opportunity to make a lucrative deal, she will seal it.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milquetoast">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"I think if you're likable, sometimes you are like <em>milquetoast</em>. You don't necessarily stand for anything. You don't rub people the wrong way because you have strong opinions…." — Katie Couric, quoted on <em>NPR</em>, 26 Oct. 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>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 <em>milquetoast</em> came to describe a timid or meek person. Caspar's last name is fitting because <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/milk%20toast">milk toast</a> is a weak, bland concoction of buttered toast served in a dish of warm milk.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>