ticky-tacky

[tik-ee-tak-ee] /ˈtɪk iˌtæk i/
adjective
1.
shoddy and unimaginatively designed; flimsy and dull:
a row of new, ticky-tacky bungalows.
2.
tacky2 .
noun
3.
ticky-tacky material or something made of it, especially housing.
Also, ticky-tack.
Origin
1960-65; gradational compound based on tacky2
Word Origin and History for ticky-tacky
n.

"inferior, cheap material," 1962 (in song "Little Boxes" by U.S. political folk-singer Malvina Reynolds, 1900-1978), reduplication of tacky.

Slang definitions & phrases for ticky-tacky

ticky-tacky

adjective

(also ticky-tack) Inferior; shabbily made or done; tacky: oil rigs and ticky-tack motels/ draw their energy from the ticky-tacky-taco style of curio shops (1969+)

noun

Shabby materials; insubstantial and inferior goods: little houses made of tickytacky (1962+)

[coined by Malvina Reynolds and used in ''Little Boxes,'' a 1960s satirical song about California housing tracts where the houses are described as little boxes made of ticky-tacky]