rinky-dink
UK/ˈɹɪŋ.kɪ.dɪŋk//ˈɹɪŋkiˌdɪŋk/
rinky-dink noun: an amateur or someone who is underqualified. Also the alternative form of rinky-tink.
Noun
rinky-dink (countable and uncountable, plural rinky-dinks)
- An amateur or someone who is underqualified.
- The point is that SCUBA diving is not for "rinky-dinks" ; it is for well trained people only, and then only in the company of other experienced divers.1962, Journal of Physical Education and Recreation, volume 33, Washington, D.C.: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 37, column 3
- Of course, most of the great players were at war and there was no need to pay the rinky-dinks, who were merely occupying uniforms until the studs got back.2001, Jim Dent, The Undefeated: The Oklahoma Sooners and the Greatest Winning Streak in College Football, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, Joe Nobody, little guy, minnow, nebbish, nobody
- Antonyms:
- baron, big cheese, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise, big shot, bigwig
- Someone who operates unethically; specifically, a small-time conman or crook.
- In addition to such creeps, there is also found in various organizations an assortment of longhairs, corny antiques, arky back-numbers, moldy mossbacks, rinky-dinks, tintypes, schmoes and schmaltzes of all flavors.1958, News and Views, New York, N.Y.: General Motors Acceptance Corporation, →OCLC, page 30, column 1
- "I'm suing the Pacific Gas and Electric Company," he [Ty Cobb] explained, "for overcharging me on the service. Those rinky-dinks tacked an extra sixteen dollars on my bill. Bunch of crooks. When I wouldn't pay, they cut off my utilities. Okay—I'll see them in court."1996, Al Stump, “Extra Innings”, in Cobb: A Biography, Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Workman Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 19
- Synonyms:
- absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, crumb, Joe Nobody, little guy, minnow, nebbish, nobody
- Antonyms:
- baron, big cheese, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise, big shot, bigwig
- Something that is not up to acceptable standards; something of low quality.
- But when we start getting really into the "rinky-dinks" of this thing is when we get over here in the columns.1958, Proceedings of Progress in Measurement of Management Conference, October 31 – November 1, 1957, New York City, New York, N.Y.: Society for the Advancement of Management, →OCLC, page 84
- It was during this interval between wars that Dan Fahey, for the words "solve this problem", used the expression "unscramble this rinky-dink." This became usual lingo in the 306th. Starting in late June of 1950, there were lots of "rinky-dinks to be unscrambled.[…]"1970, Ford E. Young, To the Regiment: The History of the 306th Cavalry Regiment and the 306th Armored Cavalry Group, Washington, D.C.: National Capitol Pub. Co., →OCLC, page 96
- A miscellaneous object or thing; a thingy.
- [H]e, […] had just ordered a Sennett. […] He wanted no detachable top of pleb[e]ian characteristics; he wanted two regular bodies, one for winter and one for summer. And he wanted a special color and a monogram and a whole lot of rinky-dinks that cost him money.1915 November 24, Ray W. Sherman, “Dodging Responsibility is Dodging Progress: Carrying Only Half the Burden is Not a 100% Performance—Reilly’s Revelation Surprises a Young Friend”, in Motor World...
- Marilyn Monroe who was blonde and beautiful and had a sweet little rinky-dink of a voice and all the cleanliness of all the clean American backyards. She was our angel.1973, Norman Mailer, Marilyn: A Biography, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, page 15; quoted in Sam B. Girgus, “The Changing Face of American Redemption: Henry Fonda, Marilyn Monroe, Paul...
- Deceptive or underhanded rigmarole; deception, trickery; (countable) often preceded by the: an instance of this; a deception, swindle, a trick.
- [H]e entered the realm of educational matters […] Two years of his life were spent at this elevating game, during which time he had only eighty-two fights with fond mothers who felt that he had been either neglectful of their particular children or had ruthlessly given them the rinky-dink.1901 June 6, “Insurance Fable. How to Be the Real Thing without Owning Mental Diamonds.”, in The Chronicle: A Weekly Insurance Journal, volume LXVII, number 23, New York, N.Y.: The Chronicle Company...
- What's the matter with [Franklin Delano] Roosevelt and his Plan? / All the other reformers have them on the pan; / Fattened them up with printer's ink, / Then handed them the rinky dink.1911, Alfred B. Rollins, Jr., “Stereotype of a Crusader”, in Roosevelt and Howe, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, published 1962, →OCLC, page 31
- Synonyms:
- deception, imposition, hype, deceit, dupery, fiddle, fetch, hocus-pocus, jugglery, legerdemain
Adjective
rinky-dink
- Of poor quality; amateurish, shoddy, small-time.
- That rinky-dink shelf is likely to collapse if you fill it with books.
- It was a rinky-dink way to run a war.2007, Walter J. Boyne, The Yom Kippur War: And the Airlift Strike That Saved Israel, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- ass, bad, base, below par, bottom-shelf, BTEC, bum, cheap, cheap and nasty, cheapshit
- Old-fashioned, tired; also, shabby, worn-out.
- Synonyms:
- basic, cheugy, cringe, cringey, cringeworthy, dated, démodé, elderly, fossilized, inelegant
- Antonyms:
- a la mode/à la mode, all the rage, chic, sassy, cool, dapper, done, elegant, fashionable, groovy
- Crooked, dishonest, underhanded.
- When NBC licensed his reruns to the Arts & Entertainment cable network without consulting him, he was incensed. "It was a rinky-dink deal," says a source.1992, Newsweek - Volume 120, page 55
- I asked Father Butterballino, “Why do it at all, if you're going to do it in this rinky-dink, sneaky way?” (phrased more diplomatically, of course).2012, Scott Pomfret, Since My Last Confession: A Gay Catholic Memoir, →ISBN, page 246
- Antonyms:
- earnest, fair dinkum, forthright, downright, upfront, foursquare, frank, genuine, up-front, honest
Also used as
rinky-dink is also the alternative form of rinky-tink.
Examples of rinky-dink in a sentence
- We've been ordered to some godforsaken place near Pleiku—the whole damn company, you and me and them other rinky-dinks back in Qui Nhon.2005, Norman S. Pratt, Noble Conflict: A Vietnam War Novel: A Soldier Reflects on His Struggle with Issues of Morality and Integrity in a...
- Now you have me with some rinky-dinks." I told him one time, "That's what somebody said about you when you were in there.2013, Eric J. DeMeulenaere, Colette N. Cann, with Chad R. Malone, James E. McDermott, quoting John Wooden, “Introduction”, in Reflections...
- The rinky-dink is the 'no problem' merchant who causes no end of trouble for everyone else in the organisation.2000, Jim Green, “Cultivating the Selling Habit”, in Starting Your Own Business: The Bestselling Guide to Planning and Building a...
- Soon afterward, the federal government, in effect, outlawed the rinky-dinks by adopting minimum-strength standards.1980, Mechanix Illustrated, volume 76, Greenwich, Conn.: Modern Mechanix Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 112:
Synonyms of rinky-dink
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of rinky-dink
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | rinky-dinks |
| Adjective | |
| alternative form | rinky-dinky |
Origin of rinky-dink
Origin unknown; possibly a variant of rickety (“of an object: not strong or sturdy; of a person: feeble in the joints, tottering”), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. The noun is attested earlier than the adjective.
Questions about rinky-dink
- What does rinky-dink mean?
- Rinky-dink means an amateur or someone who is underqualified.
- How do you use rinky-dink in a sentence?
- We've been ordered to some godforsaken place near Pleiku—the whole damn company, you and me and them other rinky-dinks back in Qui Nhon.
- What part of speech is rinky-dink?
- Rinky-dink can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce rinky-dink?
- Rinky-dink is pronounced /ˈɹɪŋ.kɪ.dɪŋk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of rinky-dink?
- The plural of rinky-dink is rinky-dinks.
Words near rinky-dink in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rinky-dink (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-rinky-dink.ogg.
Cite this entry: “rinky-dink.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rinky-dink. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.