boondoggle

[boon-dog-uhl, -daw-guhl]

noun

1. 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?

2. work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy.

3. 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)

boondoggled, boondoggling 

1. to deceive or attempt to deceive.

   to boondoggle investors into a low-interest scheme.

verb (used without object)

boondoggled, boondoggling 

1. to do work of little or no practical value merely to keep or look busy.

boondoggle

/ ˈbuːnˌdɒɡəl /

verb

1. (intr) to do futile and unnecessary work

noun

1. a futile and unnecessary project or work

Other Word Forms

• boondoggler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of boondoggle¹

An Americanism dating back to 1930–35; of unknown origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of boondoggle¹

C20: said to have been coined by R. H. Link, American scoutmaster

Example Sentences

We also see a collective resistance: a statewide prisoner strike in 2022 that tries to call attention to a free-labor boondoggle that can only be called modern slavery.

From Los Angeles Times

Ossoff called Georgia Pathways “a boondoggle that’s wasted tens of millions on pricey consultants while Georgia hospitals struggle and Georgians get sick without health insurance.”

From Salon

The $500-million mixed-use project planned for the busy intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue “has been, at best, a complete boondoggle, and, at worst, a complete fraud,” Harris said in court documents.

From Los Angeles Times

In a post on X, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin described the program as a boondoggle in which not enough was actually going for solar projects.

From Los Angeles Times

“This is turning out to be a bigger boondoggle than was originally sold to the public,” said Hahn, who said she had not been told about the upgrade costs.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• betrayal 
• deceit 
• disinformation 
• duplicity 
• falsehood 
• fraud 
• hypocrisy 
• lying 
• mendacity 
• treachery 
• trickery 
• untruth 

When To Use

What does boondoggle 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.