rinky-dink
Americanadjective
-
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
Etymology
Origin of rinky-dink
1910–15; rhyming compound (perhaps based on alteration and nasalization of rickety ); cf. ricky-tick
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They were rewarded with three works by Puccini, alongside Henry Mancini's rinky-dink Pink Panther theme, and the traditional programme of sea shanties and patriotic songs like Jerusalem and Rule, Britannia!
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2024
Maybe rinky-dink Cook Out is destined to be the underdog in a world in which every leisure business wants to attract the wealthiest customers possible.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2023
Because they want you to feel like these extremely tall and sweet and even futuristic pieces of technology are these antiquated, homespun, rinky-dink little things that you might see in a Dutch painting.
From Salon ● Feb. 9, 2022
An aging screen icon gets lured into accepting an award at a rinky-dink film festival in Nashville, Tenn., sending him on a hilarious fish-out-of-water adventure and an unexpectedly poignant journey into his past.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2020
“What do you think he is, some kind of radical rinky-dink reporter? He’s drawing a decent weekly salary from Halversson; he’s got a wife, a brat, a mortgage, and a ’71 Oldsmobile on time.”
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
