boonies
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of boonies
First recorded in 1950–55; see origin at boon(docks), -ie
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson evoke the small-bore unraveling of new parenthood in the boonies, with Lawrence in particular throwing her whole body into a creeping alienation from one’s spouse and oneself.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
Anne E. Thompson’s understated performance as Dani, a rookie cop patrolling the boonies, crept up slowly like a colt finding her hind legs.
From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2023
We lived out in the middle of nowhere, in the boonies, and our closest neighbor was two miles away.
From Salon • Jan. 15, 2022
In contrast, New York and other older Eastern cities were already overflowing, and courses had to be built in the boonies.
From Golf Digest • Apr. 17, 2020
Near Chu Lai the patrols had been serious, but away from Chu Lai, in the deep boonies, they were dead serious.
From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
