rinky-dink

[ ring-kee-dingk ]

adjective

1. inconsequential, amateurish, or of generally inferior quality; small-time:

   a rinky-dink college; He plays with some rinky-dink team.

2. outmoded or shabby; backward; antiquated:

   a rinky-dink airline.

noun

1. a person or thing that is rinky-dink.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rinky-dink¹

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

Example Sentences

Hello, there, Rinky Dink: turn up here sharp at four o'clock.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• battered
• broken-down
• crumbling
• damaged
• decaying
• decrepit
• derelict
• dingy
• in ruins
• neglected
• ramshackle
• rickety
• run down
• seedy
• shabby
• unkempt