mickey mouse
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.
QUIZZES
DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?
"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?
Question 1 of 10
decorum
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
Words nearby mickey mouse
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
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
Mickey Mouse
A cartoon character created by Walt Disney. Mickey's image is so widespread that he has achieved the status of myth.
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.