milquetoast

noun (sometimes initial capital letter)

1. a very timid, unassertive, spineless person, especially one who is easily dominated or intimidated: a milquetoast who’s afraid to ask for a raise.

noun

1. US and Canadian a meek, submissive, or timid person

n.“timid, meek person,” 1938, from Caspar Milquetoast, character created by U.S. newspaper cartoonist H.T. Webster (1885-1952) in the strip “The Timid Soul,” which ran from 1924 in the “New York World” and later the “Herald Tribune.” By 1930 the name was being referenced as a type of the meek man. The form seems to be milktoast with an added French twist; cf. also milksop.