Boondoggle
Noun · Hacker Culture
Definitions
A project seen as wasteful, overcomplicated, or unnecessary relative to its value. In tech culture the term often gets applied to expensive internal initiatives that produce little beyond slides and meetings.
In plain English: A wasteful project with little practical value.
Example: "What started as a search modernization effort slowly turned into a boondoggle with consultants, dashboards, and almost no improvement for users."