How to Use boondoggle in a Sentence

boondoggle

noun
  • Critics say the dam is a complete boondoggle—over budget, behind schedule, and unnecessary.
  • This is not a boondoggle walk in the park for the inmates.
    Neil Senturia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 May 2024
  • When all is said and done, that wisecrack may be the best thing to come out of this boondoggle.
    Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader, 18 June 2018
  • There are a few ways of looking at the cost of a $3.5 trillion boondoggle.
    The Editors, National Review, 29 Sep. 2021
  • And of course, DVDs of these boondoggle/pilgrimages are for sale on the show!
    David Weiss, Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2016
  • But by the eighth episode, the gang is all back together again for one last boondoggle.
    Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 27 Sep. 2023
  • Why: In a state known for its outlandish mansions, this is the boondoggle that set the standard.
    Christopher Reynolds, latimes.com, 21 May 2017
  • That’s just the point — no one will be accountable for this huge boondoggle.
    Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, 23 Jan. 2017
  • These tips will help pick the right plunge for you, and avoid the oil-leaking boondoggle of your wallet’s worst nightmares.
    Dennis Tang, GQ, 30 June 2017
  • The judges were not somebody’s nephew on a boondoggle but were, for the most part, their countries’ best legal minds.
    Foreign Affairs, 20 Oct. 2023
  • On its initial rollout, the PPP seemed like a government boondoggle designed to help the haves over the have-nots.
    Will Jeakle, Forbes, 8 Apr. 2021
  • The dock was at risk of turning into a costly boondoggle.
    Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Apr. 2018
  • There’s not so much as a glance in the direction of the electric-vehicle boondoggle.
    Matthew Continetti, National Review, 8 June 2024
  • But that’s always the juice that allows politicians to call one thing a boondoggle and another a boon.
    John Archibald | Jarchibald@al.com, al, 4 Feb. 2020
  • The last episode of the podcast goes through the history of the word boondoggle, like spending $16 billion for zero new service.
    New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 8 July 2024
  • The Rose Quarter is the second-cheapest project included on the group’s boondoggle list.
    oregonlive.com, 18 June 2019
  • While their jaw-dropping shapes awed the crowd in attendance, their debut was a last-minute boondoggle that could have ended in a no-show.
    Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 12 Mar. 2021
  • That might not seem like such a boondoggle in New York City, where annual tuition is often four times that.
    Ginia Bellafante, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2017
  • This sort of hubris always leads to a financial boondoggle.
    Paul Newberry, Star Tribune, 23 July 2021
  • But why limit our investigations to bad deals from the past when there are so many new boondoggles on the horizon?
    Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader, 21 May 2018
  • While such bond debt is retired not by tax funds but airport revenues only, the idea smacked to some of a government boondoggle.
    Bill Turque and Steve Vockrodt, kansascity, 8 Feb. 2018
  • Both Cox and Allen dismiss it as a government boondoggle.
    Seema Mehta, latimes.com, 22 May 2018
  • None of this will placate cynics who see the entire exercise as a boondoggle.
    John King, SFChronicle.com, 26 Aug. 2019
  • The episode would have been an expensive boondoggle, except for one thing: The district never signed its contract with K12.
    Sandra Upson, Wired, 16 Sep. 2020
  • Bailing out those who have done so much damage to their states and our country already would be a boondoggle of epic proportions.
    Rick Scott, National Review, 12 Dec. 2020
  • Both Allen and Cox, however, promised to ax construction as soon as they were elected, calling the plan corrupt and a boondoggle.
    Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 May 2018
  • Or will the streetcar be viewed as Mayor Tom Barrett’s $128 million boondoggle?
    Steve Jagler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 Mar. 2018
  • Obama’s fuel standards are a looming boondoggle, and Trump is right to discard them.
    Nr Editors, National Review, 12 Sep. 2019
  • For a while, Charter tried to find the silver lining in the boondoggle deal by promoting Spectrum as the only place for fans to see the Dodgers’ regular season games.
    Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2020
  • Several council members have called the project a boondoggle that needs more vetting.
    Dallas News, 27 May 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'boondoggle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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