boondocks

plural noun

boon·docks | \ ˈbün-ˌdäks

Definition of boondocks

1 US, informal : a remote, thinly settled rural area : sticks Upper Michigan seems both exotic and entirely American, a boondocks with its own special flavor.— Frank Conroy — usually used with the living out in the boondocksIn show business, this trio would have bombed in the boondocks, far from the Broadway lights.— James Baldwin

2 US, informal, chiefly in military use : rough country filled with dense brush —usually used with the The drill is to swim in undetected, get into the boondocks, change to camouflage, and move out for some kind of simulated strike on the base.— Richard Hill

Synonyms Boondocks and Boondoggles More Example Sentences Phrases Containing boondocks Learn More About boondocks

Boondocks and Boondoggles

Boon (“ a timely benefit; a favor”) is a fairly old English word, dating back to the 12th century. In light of this one might be excused for thinking that words such as boondocks ("a rural area") and boondoggle (“a wasteful or impractical project or activity often involving graft”) are of similar vintage. However, not only are both of these words much newer than boon, they are not related to it (or to each other), except by a coincidence of spelling. Boondoggle is believed to have been coined in the 1920s by the American scoutmaster Robert H. Link as a name for the braided leather cords that are made and worn by Boy Scouts; it took on the “wasteful project” meaning sometime after. Boondocks is also a word from the early 20th century: it comes from the Tagalog word for a mountain, and was brought to English by the U.S. military forces who had occupied the Philippines at the beginning of the 20th century.

Examples of boondocks in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There is nothing glamorous about 620 Folsom St., a 99-year-old building in what once was the industrial boondocks of downtown San Francisco. — John King, San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Sep. 2021 There is a unique force in the boondocks of Buenos Aires, Argentina: music producer Bizarrap, a sort of South American Dr. Dre, a hitmaker who has already accustomed its loyal fan base of tens of millions to a weekly smash rap hit. — Javier Hasse, Forbes, 27 May 2021 The group would occasionally hit balls on a few makeshift holes in the boondocks north of Covington, but the experience was less than satisfying and the linksters desired a real course closer to home. — Kim Chatelain | Contributing Writer, NOLA.com, 10 Jan. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'boondocks.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.