ticky-tacky adjective 2noun 1 adjective2 •(US) Made of this material; cheaply built, of low quality.My first impression was that Phoenix was another American Dream (a la L.A.) come true—ticky-tacky tract housing complexes and mini-malls stretching boundlessly into the flat desert horizon. — 2013 •Inferior, minor, trivial. noun1 •(US) Cheap, low-quality building material, especially as that used to make conventional suburban housing of a uniform design.And the boys go into business, and marry and raise a family / In boxes made of ticky-tacky, and they all look just the same. — 1962
