mickey mouse
- 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, orig. with reference to the banal dance-band music played as background to the cartoons
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Mickey Mouse
- 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
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for mickey mouse
Mickey Mouse
cartoon mouse character created 1928 by U.S. animator Walt Disney (1901-1966). As an adjective meaning "small and worthless" it dates from 1936, originally used especially of mediocre dance-band music, a put-down based on the type of tunes played as background in cartoon films.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Mickey Mouse
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.