trite and commercially slick in character; corny.
mickey mouse music.
useless, insignificant, or worthless.
mickey mouse activities just to fill up one's time.
trivial or petty.
mickey mouse regulations.
ineffective; trivial; insignificant
he settled for a Mickey Mouse job instead of something challenging
(of music, esp that of dance bands) mechanical or spiritless
First recorded in 1930–35; after the animated cartoon character created by Walt Disney, originally with reference to the banal dance-band music played as background to the cartoons
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was reportedly wearing jeans and a mickey mouse shirt when he escaped.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 14, 2016
I need you to perform at her party with specifically a minnie mouse dead-mow-five head… not a mickey mouse dead-mow-five head.
From Time ● Mar. 2, 2016
"There's no economy in the world can grow and provide public services with air, you know, it's mickey mouse economics."
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2015
I think what is happening from a public point of view looks a bit mickey mouse and that is not good for the reputation of the university.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2011
Doesn't necessarily have the belittling connotations of mainstream slang "Oh, that's just mickey mouse stuff!"; sometimes trivial programs can be very useful. :micro-: /pref./
From The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0, 24 Jul 1996 by Raymond, Eric S.
“We were in our teens coming down to New York on the train or on the bus to audition for things, like ‘The Mickey Mouse Club,’” he told the outlet.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Two stoneware Mickey Mouse ramekins purchased for £39 were recovered from the garage.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
If I talked like Mickey Mouse, the thin breathiness that plagued my voice went away.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2026
Its massive success launched Mickey Mouse and Disney to global stardom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
Strangely, though, there’s still some merchandise: there’s a Mickey Mouse phone I recognize from some way back part of childhood.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
