boondoggle

noun

boon·dog·gle ˈbün-ˌdä-gəl

-ˌdȯ-

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

: 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

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Because of its ballooning costs and timeline, the project has been derided by critics in the state and across the country as a costly boondoggle. —

Alan Ohnsman, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024 Business leaders are quick to abhor left-wing populism, with its government giveaways to supporters, spending on boondoggle projects, and disregard for financial discipline and investor confidence. —

Roberto Stefan Foa rachel Kleinfeld, Harvard Business Review, 10 Oct. 2024 Advertisement For Patricia Meneses, the railway is an ecological tragedy and an impractical boondoggle that sucked resources from more-critical efforts like fighting crime in her native state of Chiapas, which has been consumed by a violent gang war. —

Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2024 Indeed, even if the United States drove all its MRAPs lemming-like into the Euphrates upon departing Iraq, the vehicles still would have been a bargain, not a boondoggle. —

Christopher J. Lamb, Foreign Affairs, 23 Aug. 2012 See all Example Sentences for boondoggle