paint-by-number

paint-by-num ber ▶adjective denoting a picture marked out in advance into sections that are numbered according to the color to be used. • denoting something mechanical or formulaic rather than imaginative, original, or natural: a paint-by-number way to feel or act.

paint-by-numbers

paint-by-numbers ▶adjective (of a child's picture ) marked out in advance into sections which are numbered according to the colour to be used. • denoting something mechanical or formulaic rather than imaginative or natural: a paint-by-numbers way to feel or act.