boondoggle

noun

boon·​dog·​gle ˈbün-ˌdä-gəl 

-ˌdȯ-

1

: a braided cord worn by Boy Scouts as a neckerchief slide (see slide entry 2 sense 4b), hatband, or ornament

2

: a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft

The project is a complete boondoggle—over budget, behind schedule, and unnecessary.

boondoggle intransitive verb

boondoggler

ˈbün-ˌdä-g(ə-)lər 

-ˌdȯ-

noun

Did you know?

Boondoggle Started With the Scouts

When boondoggle popped up in the early 1900s, lots of people tried to explain where the word came from. One theory traced it to an Ozarkian word for "gadget," while another related it to the Tagalog word that gave us boondocks. Another hypothesis suggested that boondoggle came from the name of leather toys Daniel Boone supposedly made for his dog. But the only theory that is supported by evidence is much simpler. In the 1920s, Robert Link, a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America, apparently coined the word to name the braided leather cords made and worn by scouts. The word came to prominence when such a boondoggle was presented to the Prince of Wales at the 1929 World Jamboree, and it's been with us ever since. Over time, it developed the additional sense describing a wasteful or impractical project.

Examples of boondoggle in a Sentence

Critics say the dam is a complete boondoggle—over budget, behind schedule, and unnecessary.

Recent Examples on the Web

In a movie full of baffling decisions, none of them are more bizarre or fundamental than the decision to reboot the Avengers by returning to the 2008 boondoggle where Marvel tried to boot them up in the first place — only to repeat so many of the same mistakes on a much larger scale. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 12 Feb. 2025

Whether its airship ultimately ends up an economic boon or boondoggle remains to be seen ... although the same can be said of many other visionary startups, airship and otherwise. —New Atlas, 6 Feb. 2025

Meanwhile, the projects that China has announced have often turned into boondoggles or dead ends. —Ian Johnson, Foreign Affairs, 10 June 2022

This is another Reitman boondoggle — like Juno, Up in the Air, and Thank You for Smoking — that mines the zeitgeist, congratulating the SNL institution rather than scrutinizing it in terms of the cultural realities that produced it. —Armond White, National Review, 1 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

coined by Robert H. Link †1957 American scoutmaster

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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