mickey mouse

adjective

, (often initial capital letters)

1. trite and commercially slick in character; corny:

   mickey mouse music.

2. useless, insignificant, or worthless:

   mickey mouse activities just to fill up one's time.

3. trivial or petty:

   mickey mouse regulations.

Mickey Mouse

adjective

1. ineffective; trivial; insignificant

   he settled for a Mickey Mouse job instead of something challenging

2. (of music, esp that of dance bands) mechanical or spiritless

Mickey Mouse

1. A cartoon character created by Walt Disney . Mickey's image is so widespread that he has achieved the status of myth.

Word History and Origins

Origin of mickey mouse¹

First recorded in 1930–35; after the animated cartoon character created by Walt Disney, originally with reference to the banal dance-band music played as background to the cartoons

Word History and Origins

Origin of mickey mouse¹

C20: from the name of a cartoon character created by Walt Disney, known for his simple-minded attitudes

Example Sentences

He said he spent his time doing “Mickey Mouse make-work,” digging though old records for long-abandoned well sites.

From The Daily Beast

I started with Mickey Mouse, and I kept at it until my Mickey looked like the one in the cartoons and the comic books.

From The Daily Beast

It happened when, having become smugly satisfied with my rendering of Mickey Mouse, I turned to Donald Duck.

From The Daily Beast

There have been several stages of “I feel old” when it comes to The Mickey Mouse Club.

From The Daily Beast

She did have some experience already, with The Mickey Mouse Club, but this was her first major music video.

From The Daily Beast

It was covered in obscene doodles of Mickey Mouse with a huge erection, Minnie dangling from a noose.

From Project Gutenberg