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 ); 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.
He had the hair and the rinky-dink scandals and that one cameo in Home Alone 2.
From Slate • Dec. 19, 2024
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
They had me in the SS Mooch, which was a rinky-dink rowboat.
From Salon • May 18, 2024
For a certain kind of window shopper, the glass meat locker inside Gallaghers gives off a luster that makes the displays at Cartier look rinky-dink.
From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2021
A lot of it seemed to be rinky-dink stuff that Terry Donnelly won as a kid.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
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.
