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Webster 1913 Edition
Mealy-mouthed
Meal′y-mouthedˊ
,Adj.
Using soft words; not straightforward; plausible; affectedly or timidly delicate of speech; speaking deviously; unwilling to tell the truth in plain language. Opposite of
“Mealy-mouthed philanthropies.” frank
or blunt
. Tennyson.
She was a fool to be
– mealy-mouthed
where nature speaks so plain. L’Estrange.
Meal′y-mouthˊness
(#)
, Noun.
Webster 1828 Edition
Mealy-mouthed
ME'ALY-MOUTHED
,Adj.
Definition 2025
mealy-mouthed
mealy-mouthed
See also: mealymouthed
English
Alternative forms
- mealmouthed, meal-mouthed
- mealymouthed
Adjective
mealy-mouthed (comparative more mealy-mouthed, superlative most mealy-mouthed)
- prone to speaking evasively, indirectly, or duplicitously; not forthright
- 1849, Thoreau, A week on the Concord and Merrimack rivers, page 115
- The surliness with which the woodchopper speaks of his woods, handling them as indifferently as his axe, is better than the mealy-mouthed enthusiasm of the lover of nature.
- 1849, Thoreau, A week on the Concord and Merrimack rivers, page 115
Related terms
- mealmouth