2011_10_09 milquetoast \MILK-tohst\, noun: A very timid person

milquetoast \MILK-tohst\, noun:
A very timid, unassertive, spineless person, especially one who is easily dominated or intimidated.
He played the quintessential meek, scrawny, milquetoast character.
-- Iris Johansen, Fatal Tide
It was hard to believe that a milquetoast coward like myself could be involved in such a clandestine and dangerous operation.
-- Walter Mosley, Fear of the Dark
Milquetoast is after Caspar Milquetoast, a character in The Timid Soul, a comic strip by H. T. Webster (1885-1952), American cartoonist.