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A small isolated town, region, or place that is regarded as unimportant.
I hate these backwards podunk towns.
podunk by Bacender November 7, 2007
a phrase for a small or rural town that was popularized by the movie "The French Connection" in 1971, starring Gene Hackman. The film was about a drug smuggling operation that had french connections in mid-state New York. This was all based on actual happenings and the small, rural town known as Poughkeepsie was the actual setting in both real life and in the movie. Countless times in the movie, they used slang phrases such as "podunk" or "pough town" to describe the area.
Today, the phrases have caught on with many individuals and spread throughout many states and towns all across America. By being spread through word of mouth, many people lost the true meaning of podunk and did not even realize it was originally used and first created for Poughkeepsie. The town of Poughkeepsie and city has now become less rural and more developed. Surrounding towns have all been overcrowded by many people coming from the suburbs of NYC due to the ripple effect. Too many people work in the city and live just outside of it, so they move a little bit farther out to escape the high density living. Even though Poughkeepsie may not even count as a podunk town anymore, it should always be credited for inspiring the popular phrase.
Guy 1: "So now that Poughkeepsie is no longer a podunk little town, what else can we call podunk?"

Guy 2: "Well Poughquag isn't that small, but it sure does have a lot of cows, so I guess we can call it podunk."

Guy 1: "Neighboring towns keep the word alive."
podunk by true_meanings June 3, 2007
A piece of shit, redneck, small-town
podunk by Sarah December 13, 2003
Hardwick Mass. Nothing to do except go to WalMart, which is 30 minutes away. One gas station. Nearest mall is an hour away. Just got cell service.
What's there to do tonight?

WalMart run.

Again?

Well that's Podunk living
Podunk by pseudo225 November 22, 2010
This is actually a place. The ORIGINAL Podunk was an area in south-central Mass inhabited by the Podunk Indians. It is now known as East Brookfield, MA. It is listed in the oldest Webster's Dictionary as such, (plus, I'm from there!!) Common areas/landmarks in Podunk: Podunk Cemetary, High Rocks, Lake Lashaway, Devil's Kitchen, Hayden Lodge, Union Chapel. Also, the birthplace of Connie Mack!
Take a ride to Podunk and you can see High Rocks from the intersection of Flagg Road and Podunk Road.
Podunk by biggussar February 18, 2008
Iowa Iowa Iowa Iowa Iowa Iowa
podunk by Minnestoa Eh? February 19, 2004