connect-the-dotsadj.n.
/kəˌnɛk(t)ðəˈdɒts/, U.S. /kəˌnɛk(t)ðəˈdɑts/ Chiefly North American (originally U.S.). (Join-the-dots is the more common term in British English.)
A. adj.
1. attributive. Designating a puzzle with the object of drawing lines sequentially linking numbered points arranged on a page, so as to form a picture; of or involving such puzzles; = join-the-dots adj. 1. Frequently figurative or in similes. Cf. dot-to-dot adj. and n. (a) at dot n.1 and prep. Phrases 7.
ΚΠ
1931 Catal. Copyright Entries: Pt. 1, Group 2 (Libr. of Congr. Copyright Office) (1932) 28 805/2 (title) Nugent's connect the dots educational drawing and painting book.
1990 K. Lawrence Springs Living Water ii. 27 She imagined herself to be like one of the dots on a connect-the-dots page in her coloring book.
1996 F. Popcorn & L. Marigold Clicking iii. 368 Your career path can no longer be looked at as a straight line; instead it's a connect-the-dots puzzle.
2017 Mississauga (Ontario) News (Nexis) 10 Nov. 1 It also offers crossword puzzles, mazes, connect-the-dot games and colouring for the children.
2. Characterized by or exhibiting a lack of innovation or imagination; formulaic, standardized; predictable; = join-the-dots adj. 2. Cf. paint-by-numbers adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the past > oldness or ancientness > [adjective] > old-fashioned or antiquated > stale, trite, or hackneyed
stale1550
cock-crowen1577
hackney1590
threadbare1598
worn-out1713
hackish1868
thread-worn1888
timeworn1901
old hat1949
connect-the-dots1971
join-the-dots1988
1971 R. E. Morlan Later Prehist. Middle Porcupine Drainage (Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Wisconsin) 468 Any attempt to link them at the present time involves a sort of connect-the-dots approach to culture history which could scarcely be expected to stand the test of time.
1998 Atlanta Jrnl. & Constit. (Nexis) 1 Oct. 6 e Plots are possible..even with limited funds. But ‘Futuresport’'s is strictly connect-the-dots.
2004 Rock & Ice Jan. 82/2 Leashless ice climbing brings a new sense of movement—flowing freely without the robotic connect-the-dots monotony of old-school ice and mixed climbing.
B. n.
1. A connect-the-dots puzzle. Cf. join-the-dots n., dot-to-dot adj. and n. (b) at dot n.1 and prep. Phrases 7.
ΚΠ
1971 Sacramento (Calif.) Observer 11 Nov. (Junior section) 2 Play the astrology game just as you would play connect-the-dots.
1988 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 25 Sept. 1 a If circles are drawn around areas where fire occurred, much like a child's game of connect-the-dots, 1.1-million acres lie within the circles.
2002 Colgate Scene (Colgate Univ.) Jan. 10/1 The Bacchus students covered cereal boxes with informative games such as a crossword puzzle, connect-the-dots and a maze.
2. figurative. The integration of discrete elements into a cohesive whole; sometimes implying a simplistic or reductive outlook.
ΚΠ
1975 Virginia Q. Rev. 51 79 To guide the shuffled mind in its clandestine game of connect the dots.
1986 Jrnl. Midwest Mod. Lang. Assoc. 19 30 Reading becomes a game of literary connect-the-dots.
2002 Wired Nov. 42/1 Part chaos theory, part biology, part connect-the-dots, the science of emerging networks seems to account for almost everything from why flies swarm to how yoga got so trendy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1931