Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

boondoggle

[boon-dog-uhl, -daw-guhl] / ˈbunˌdɒg əl, -ˌdɔ gəl /




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.

See Examples For:

Was it an exciting new form of entertainment, or a boondoggle?

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026

He vehemently denied that the United States was entering into another long-term boondoggle in the Middle East.

From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2026

What we got instead was a colossal boondoggle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026

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.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025

Framed by million-dollar views and the multimillion dollar real estate of the Silversword Golf Course, the center seems like the ultimate scientific boondoggle.

From Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software by Sam Williams

And no rules at the Guardian, apparently, regarding outrageous boondoggles and ocean-going junkets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

Discovery CEO David Zaslav, in contrast with the preceding AT&T regime, has rejected big streaming movies as boondoggles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2022

And triumphs such as “Hamilton” and boondoggles like “King Kong.”

From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2022

These "boondoggles," as the report calls them, would harm local communities and exacerbate climate change, all while failing to solve the traffic and safety problems they claim to address.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2022

The Underdowns don’t like to come out here in the boondoggles, so believe you me this was an occasion.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

“What’s the word — boondoggled? Hornswaggled?” the former mailman and Vietnam War veteran said with an easy chuckle while seated at a table off the deserted bar at the Hollywood Roosevelt on a recent afternoon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2016

I think that you can’t ever protect yourself from boondoggling.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2019

How do you think this cautionary tale plays that such boondoggling won’t happen again?

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2019

Hardly a mayor present wanted to call it boondoggling, but quite a few wanted to ask Mr. Hopkins why they could not get more money more easily.

From Time Magazine Archive

General theme: Chicago is a shoddy place to live, because of cupidity, stupidity, boondoggling and apathy.

From Time Magazine Archive

He knows what is boondoggling and what is not.

From The Armed Forces Officer Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-2 by United States. Dept. of Defense


Vocabulary lists containing boondoggle

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training