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boondoggle
[ boon-dog-uhl, -daw-guhl ]
noun
- a wasteful and worthless project undertaken for political, corporate, or personal gain, typically a government project funded by taxpayers:
Is high-speed rail a valuable addition to infrastructure, or a boondoggle?
- work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy.
- a product of simple manual skill, as a plaited leather cord for the neck or a knife sheath, made typically by a camper or a scout.
verb (used with object)
- to deceive or attempt to deceive:
to boondoggle investors into a low-interest scheme.
verb (used without object)
- to do work of little or no practical value merely to keep or look busy.
boondoggle
/ ˈ²ú³Ü˲ÔËŒ»åÉ’É¡É™±ô /
verb
- intr to do futile and unnecessary work
noun
- a futile and unnecessary project or work
Derived Forms
- ˈ²ú´Ç´Ç²ÔËŒ»å´Ç²µ²µ±ô±ð°ù, noun
Other ˜yÐÄvlog Forms
- ²ú´Ç´Ç²Ô·»å´Ç²µÂ·²µ±ô±ð°ù noun
˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins
Origin of boondoggle1
˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins
Origin of boondoggle1
Example Sentences
During his victorious campaign to become president, Reagan described the department as a "new bureaucratic boondoggle" that allowed Washington, rather than "local needs and preferences", to determine how American children were to be educated.
Warming to the theme, the magazine summed it up as "one hell of an artistically neutered, sanitized boondoggle".
Over the years as the future of a high-speed rail wavered with decades-long delays and soaring costs, it was lampooned as a “boondoggle,†and the “train to nowhere.â€
They’ve called the tunnel a boondoggle that would harm the Delta and its deteriorating ecosystem, and have argued the project would saddle ratepayers with high costs.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, another early supporter, recently opposed the “boondoggle†saying it wasn’t worth the money.
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More About Boondoggle
What doesÌýboondoggle mean?
A boondoggle is a government project considered to have little purpose or value and to be a waste of taxpayer money.
More generally, it can refer to any work done simply to look busy. These senses of the word are based on its original, literal meaning: a decorative but otherwise useless cord of braided leather or plastic (or another such handicraft) stereotypically made by Scouts.
Boondoggle can also be used as a verb meaning to deceive. All senses of the word are primarily used in the U.S. and Canada.
Example: Critics called the mayor’s proposal for a tech hub nothing more than a boondoggle to please his political donors.
Where doesÌýboondoggle come from?
The first records of the word boondoggle come from the 1930s. The term is often attributed to American scoutmaster R.H. Link. The literal sense of the word refers to the kind of braided cords often made by Scouts, which are typically attached to things like handkerchiefs and keychains as a decoration.
Today, boondoggle is commonly associated with unnecessary government spending, especially by the U.S. federal government. A project is typically called a boondoggle by those who think it’s unnecessary and wasteful. Boondoggles are often blamed on politicians who add such expenditures into budgets as a favor to their cronies, or as a way of getting a favor in return. Boondoggle is always used in a negative way to criticize such projects as worthless or pointless, and especially as a waste of money and resources.
Did you know ... ?
What are some other forms related to boondoggle?
- boondoggler (noun)
What are some synonyms for boondoggle?
What are some words that often get used in discussing boondoggle?
Ìý
How isÌýboondoggle used in real life?
Boondoggle is primarily an American term used in the context of politics. It’s always used negatively—unless it literally refers to the little braided trinkets made by Scouts.
yo i had no idea these were called boondoggles?? but i made them so much as a kid omg
— 🌷 vicky 🌷 @ suffering like everyone else (@svartwork)
Many of the same Tories trashing Ottawa for spending too much in good times (a fair criticism) were Alberta Tories who helped spend the entire resource wealth of the province, running deficits @ $100 oil and financing boondoggles like NW Upgrader's $26 billion liability.
— eric denhoff (@EDenhoff)
This is going to be the biggest unaccounted for boondoggle ever.
When it’s all over the public won’t have a clue where a lot of the money went.
— Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader)
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Try usingÌýboondoggle!
Which of the following words is LEAST likely to describe a boondoggle?
A. wasteful
B. pointless
C. efficient
D. useless
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