join-the-dotsadj.n.
/ˌdʒɔɪnðəˈdɒts/, U.S. /ˌdʒɔɪnðəˈdɑts/ More common than connect-the-dots 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; = connect-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.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > puzzle > [adjective]
join-the-dots1966
1966 E. S. Featheringill Your Child's New Math v. 75 They scramble and rearrange these and also do lots of join-the-dots puzzles.
1997 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 26 Apr. 19 How many times have you woken up to find that your pillowcase resembles a join the dots book, and that your eyes are smudged with grey.
2002 W. Fiennes Snow Geese (2003) iii. 58 A book of join-the-dots pictures to which he applied himself with a monk's diligence.
2015 A. Beatty After Ancestors xi. 168 Then all the bits [of road] made by each village will join up, like a child's join-the-dots game.
2. Characterized by or exhibiting a lack of innovation or imagination; formulaic, standardized; predictable; = connect-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
1988 M. Amis in I. Hamilton Penguin Bk. 20th-cent. Ess. (1999) 523 The identikit, join-the-dots militarist.
2008 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 31 Oct. (Melbourne Mag.) 107 They all kind of blend into one another, right? They're all a bit join-the-dots.
2015 Radio Times 9 May (South/West ed.) 35/2 It's join-the-dots entertainment at its most calculating.
B. n.
A join-the-dots puzzle. Hence figurative: the integration of discrete elements into a cohesive whole; sometimes implying a simplistic or reductive outlook. Cf. connect-the-dots n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > puzzle > [noun]
puzzle1814
join-the-dots1973
1973 Books & Bookmen Feb. 129/3 The First Piccolo Picture Puzzle Book... This book is packed full of ingenious and delightfully drawn picture puzzles—picture crosswords, odd men out, mazes, join the dots, and lots more.
1998 Harvard Rev. Spring 10 I then put this wiseacre tone into practice when writing essays in Gaelic which became a kind of join-the-dots of proverbs.
2004 C. Macintyre & K. McVitty Movement & Learning in Early Years iv. 82 Games such as join the dots or mazes are invaluable in developing pencil control.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.n.1966