milquetoast vs wallflower

milquetoast

noun
  • A person of meek or timid disposition; a person who lacks character or effectiveness. 

adj
  • Meek, timid; lacking character or effectiveness. 

wallflower

noun
  • A person who does not dance at a party, due to shyness or unpopularity; by extension, anyone who is left on the sidelines while an activity takes place. 

  • Any person who is socially awkward, shy, or reserved. 

  • Any of several short-lived herbs or shrubs of the Erysimum genus with bright yellow to red flowers. 

  • Gastrolobium grandiflorum, a poisonous bushy shrub, endemic to Australia. 

verb
  • To stand shyly apart from a dance, waiting to be asked to join in. 

How often have the words milquetoast and wallflower occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )