English Dictionary

rinky-dink

/ˈɹɪŋkiˌdɪŋk/

noun

(countable) An amateur or someone who is underqualified. / (countable) Something that is not up to acceptable standards. / (countable) Deceptive or underhanded rigmarole; trickery.

The old amusement park had a rinky-dink roller coaster.

意味（1）

(countable) 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.

意味（2）

(countable) Something that is not up to acceptable standards.

But when we start getting really into the rinky-dinks of this thing is when we get over here in the columns

意味（3）

(countable) Deceptive or underhanded rigmarole; trickery.

You have this triennial audit or examination and in the cases of the fringe companies like we had yesterday, without any real notice to stockholders or any certificate of an auditing firm, if they are interested in manipulation or rinky-dink of any kind they have got three years practically to get away from it unless somebody picks it up out of the annual report.

意味（4）

(with 'the') A bad deal; the result of a false promise.

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.

意味（5）

(countable) A small-time crook or conman; someone who operates unethically.

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.

意味（6）

(uncountable) A tinkling, tinny style of music; honky-tonk.

The Oliver band had a new kind of beat, a real jazz beat instead of the ragtime rinky-dink.

意味（7）

(informal) A thingy; a miscellaneous thing or object.

He wanted no detachable top of plebian 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.