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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
/ ˈːˌɒɡə /
verb
(intr) to do futile and unnecessary work
noun
a futile and unnecessary project or work
Other Word Forms
- boondoggler noun
- ˈǴDzˌDz noun
Word History and Origins
Origin of boondoggle1
Word History and Origins
Origin of boondoggle1
Example Sentences
Opponents, including agencies in the delta and environmental advocates, say the project is an expensive boondoggle that would harm the environment and communities, and that the state should pursue other alternatives.
Opponents, including agencies in the Delta and environmental advocates, say the project is an expensive boondoggle that would harm the environment and communities, and that the state should pursue other alternatives.
Opponents, including Northern California agencies, environmental advocates and Native tribes, argue the project is an expensive boondoggle that would harm the environment, fish species and communities, and that the state should pursue other alternatives.
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".
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Related Words
When To Use
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.
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