boondocks

boondocks — plural noun

1. country districts so far from any town that they feel isolated and unfashionable

1.plural nounC2
Definition

country districts so far from any town that they feel isolated and unfashionable

Example

After sunset, Talia's bus was the last one into the boondocks.

pattern: into the boondocks

Nkechi opened a clinic in the boondocks, two hours from Lagos.

pattern: in the boondocks

Common collocations
  • live in the boondocks
  • way out in the boondocks
  • a cabin in the boondocks
  • drive into the boondocks
Synonyms
  • the sticks

    more humorous and even more conversational

  • backwoods

    often suggests wooded country rather than any remote rural place

  • backcountry

    common in outdoor writing and less mocking in tone

  • countryside

    neutral and does not itself imply isolation

Antonyms
  • city

    suggests a large built-up place with more services and activity

  • suburbs

    residential areas near a city rather than far from it

Grammar Patterns

in the boondocks

out in the boondocks

way off in the boondocks

Usage Note

Usually used with the and often with in or out in. It is informal and can sound slightly dismissive, suggesting a place feels cut off from services, fashion, or city life.

Common Mistakes

Our hotel was in a boondock outside Denver.
Our hotel was in the boondocks outside Denver.
This word is normally used as a plural noun, usually with the.
The boondocks are only ten minutes from downtown.
The village is only ten minutes from downtown.
Boondocks suggests a place much farther away and more isolated.

2. rough remote land covered with thick scrub and brush

2.plural nounC2
Definition

rough remote land covered with thick scrub and brush

Example

Zayd cut a narrow path through the boondocks behind the old quarry.

pattern: through the boondocks

After heavy rain, the truck got stuck in the boondocks near camp.

Common collocations
  • cut through the boondocks
  • stuck in the boondocks
  • the boondocks behind the camp
Synonyms
  • brushland

    more neutral and mainly names land with thick brush

  • scrub

    focuses on low bushes rather than on remoteness

  • backwoods

    often suggests wild or wooded country, though not always dense brush

Grammar Patterns

through the boondocks

in the boondocks

cut a path through the boondocks

Usage Note

Rarer than sense 1 and more physical. It points to brushy, difficult ground itself, not just to a place being far from town.

Synonym discussion

Sense: plural noun/1

Boondocks is informal American English for a place far from towns, services, or fashionable life. The sticks is even more conversational and often sounds joking. Backwoods also suggests remoteness, but it usually makes listeners picture wooded country rather than any isolated rural district. Backcountry is common in travel and outdoor writing for land away from roads or towns, and it is less mocking than boondocks. Countryside is the neutral broad term and does not itself suggest poor facilities or distance. If a nurse opens a clinic hours from the city, you might call it the boondocks; if you are simply describing farms and villages outside town, countryside is usually the better choice.

the sticks ↗backwoods ↗backcountry ↗countryside ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • the boondocks
  • out in the boondocks

Prepositions

Etymology

TagalogAmerican English

American English borrowed boondocks from Tagalog bundok, meaning 'mountain'. U.S. soldiers in the Philippines used it for rough country and remote places. In English it later widened from mountainous terrain to any place that feels far from town and cut off from ordinary life.

First known use

1909

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 2