boonies

[ boo-neez ]

noun

, (used with a plural verb)

1. Informal. Usually the boonies. boondocks.

Word History and Origins

Origin of boonies¹

First recorded in 1950–55; boon(docks), -ie

Example Sentences

Fowler: “She made it comfortable to grow as a human. I was from the boonies of Arkansas, trying to figure out who I was in terms of coming out as gay, pursuing a PhD from a family where I was already the first generation of college students, and this was a person who was so secure in who she was and kind and generous.”

From Los Angeles Times

Fowler: “She made it comfortable to grow as a human. I was from the boonies of Arkansas, trying to figure out who I was in terms of coming out as gay, pursuing a PhD from a family where I was already the first generation of college students, and this was a person who was so secure in who she was and kind and generous.”

From Los Angeles Times

We’re in the boonies of 18th-century Austria, a land of tall, lonely forests and craggy hillsides.

From New York Times

I’m not talking about a motel in the boonies of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or a drafty log cabin on a lake in Maine or Minnesota.

From Salon

Anne E. Thompson’s understated performance as Dani, a rookie cop patrolling the boonies, crept up slowly like a colt finding her hind legs.

From New York Times

Related Words

• environment
• land
• landscape
• scenery
• surroundings
• terrain