Boondoggle
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /ˈbuːndɒɡl̩/ · Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Boondoggle is a noun meaning (especially scouting) A braided ring to hold a neckerchief.
Meaning
(especially scouting) A braided ring to hold a neckerchief.
More Meanings
- (Canada, US, figuratively, usually politics) A waste of time or money; a pointless activity.
- A trip or journey, especially a recreational or otherwise desirable one.
- (intransitive) To waste time on a pointless activity.
Example Sentences
Klein dismantles the boondoggle that is cap and trade.
Opponents consider this another billion-dollar government boondoggle.
By its strictest definition, a boondoggle is a recreational trip out of town, but it has been blurred by threadbare jokes to mean any trip that is desirable, whether for work or not.
These days the astronaut job title has been split into two categories. (Three, counting payload specialist, the category into which teachers, boondoggling senators, and junketing Saudi princes fall.)
Word Forms
- boondoggles
- boondoggling
- boondoggled
Synonyms for boondoggle
Depending on context, synonyms include woggle.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include woggle, necker, neckerchief, bindle, neckring, circingle.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.