mickey mouse

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See synonyms for mickey mouse on Thesaurus.com

adjective (often initial capital letters)Informal.

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.

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Origin of mickey mouse

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

Words nearby mickey mouse

micht, Michurinsk, Mick, Mickey, Mickey Finn, mickey mouse, Mickiewicz, mickle, micky, Micmac, miconazole nitrate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use mickey mouse in a sentence

He said he spent his time doing “Mickey Mouse make-work,” digging though old records for long-abandoned well sites.
Two Texas Regulators Tried to Enforce the Rules. They Were Fired.|David Hasemyer, InsideClimate News|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So Western governments are caught in a cat-and-mouse game and at times it is unclear who is the cat and who the mouse.
ISIS Has a Message. Do We?|Jamie Dettmer|December 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even the original score to the song labels the singing parts, “Mouse” (the woman) and “Wolf” (the man).
The Most WTF Covers of ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside,’ Everyone’s Favorite Date-Rape Holiday Classic|Kevin Fallon|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The episode was titled “Cat and Mouse” and it follows in the pattern of classic Serlingesque plot twists.
How a War-Weary Vet Created ‘The Twilight Zone’|Rich Goldstein|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“Somebody suggested [we give him] a $1,000 baseball signed by Mickey Mantle [in exchange for the URL],” Robinson told me.
Ben Carson’s Bizarrely Serious, Seriously Bizarre Campaign Crew|Olivia Nuzzi|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And Mr. Meadow Mouse often remarked that it had more halls than any other dwelling he had ever seen.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
Some of those halls that Mr. Meadow Mouse mentioned ran right out beneath the surface of the garden.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
Mr. Meadow Mouse repeated, as if he wanted to be sure there was no misunderstanding about it.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
Grandfather Mole demanded of Mr. Meadow Mouse, almost as soon as he had stepped just outside the shade of the toadstool.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey
And when he had made his promise to Mr. Meadow Mouse he had had no idea that it was going to rain so soon.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole|Arthur Scott Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for mickey mouse

Mickey Mouse

adjective (sometimes not capitals) slang

ineffective; trivial; insignificanthe settled for a Mickey Mouse job instead of something challenging

mainly US and Canadian (of music, esp that of dance bands) mechanical or spiritless

Word Origin for Mickey Mouse

C20: from the name of a cartoon character created by Walt Disney, known for his simple-minded attitudes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for mickey mouse