Definition of "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.

2005, Nicholas Johnson, “Chapter 3 Notes”, in Big Dead Place

Klein dismantles the boondoggle that is cap and trade.

2014 November 6, Rob Nixon, “Naomi Klein’s ‘This Changes Everything’”, in New York Times‎

For cynics, it is a boondoggle plagued by delays (it began in 2007 and was supposed to begin experiments in 2016, but this will not now happen until 2025), questionable management and ballooning costs (double the original estimate).

2019 May 2, “Iter, a reactor in France, may deliver fusion power as early as 2045”, in The Economist‎