rinky-dink

[ ring-kee-dingk ]

/ ˈrɪŋ kiˌdɪŋk /

Slang.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rinky-dink ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

inconsequential, amateurish, or of generally inferior quality; small-time: a rinky-dink college; He plays with some rinky-dink team.

outmoded or shabby; backward; antiquated: a rinky-dink airline.

noun

a person or thing that is rinky-dink.

RELATED WORDS

poor, bad, damaged, run-down, shabby, decaying, crumbling, unkempt, broken-down, neglected, dingy, decrepit, ramshackle, seedy, derelict, rickety, battered, injured, impaired, decayed

Nearby words

ringwood, ringworm, rink, rink rat, rinkhals, rinky-dink, rinky-tink, rinne's test, rinse, rinsin', rinsing

Origin of rinky-dink

1910–15; rhyming compound (perhaps based on alteration and nasalization of rickety); cf. ricky-tick

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019