as in countryside
a rural region that forms the edge of the settled or developed part of a country
they purposely vacationed in the backlands to get away from people
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backlands
Noun
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From Seoul to Dubai to wellness retreats tucked into the Italian countryside, beauty tourism has become a defining travel trend, with celebrities openly documenting trips built around facials, injectables, regenerative therapies and reset-style wellness stays.—
Hanna Wickes,
Sacbee.com,
14 May 2026 -
About an hour west of Baltimore, where the city and suburban landscape gives way to Maryland’s rural countryside, visitors can find Fingerboard Farm, an historic landmark in Frederick County that once nurtured fruit orchards.—
William Deffaa,
Baltimore Sun,
14 May 2026
Noun
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Perennial sunflowers are available that grow as bushes or tall shrub forms.—
Tom MacCubbin,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 May 2026
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Along my walkway and all over my neighborhood, nasturtium flowers are opening like bright orange suns, fragrant lavender is attracting buzzing bees, and rosemary bushes are beginning to brighten with baby blue flowers.—
Senior Food Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
3 May 2026
Noun
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On arrival, guests are paired with a personal local guide–think of it as the hinterland’s answer to a butler—on hand to arrange everything from restaurant bookings to last-minute requests, typically handled with a quick text.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
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Moreover, as soon as Christianity began to spread outside his native land, Christian converts faced new situations in unexpected contexts, completely different from those of their founder, an itinerant Jewish preacher in the sparsely populated hinterlands of rural Galilee.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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There are many ways for a country to become unfree.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
9 May 2026
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The Republican president said the ceasefire includes a suspension of all kinetic activity and the exchange of 1,000 prisoners by each country.—
Darlene Superville,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2026
Noun
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For decades, seabed cartography was a scientific backwater.—
Natalie Sum Yue Chung,
Fortune,
3 May 2026
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Some of the coolest crappie fishing of the year occurs in backwaters that are easily accessible by foot.—
Cory Schmidt,
Outdoor Life,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The research frontier also shifted.—
James Broughel,
Forbes.com,
10 May 2026
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The airport said the majority of the passengers have since departed Denver on a new frontier flight.—
Jack Lowenstein,
CBS News,
9 May 2026
Noun
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The Deb dispute is playing out across different fronts in Los Angeles and Australia, overshadowing the feel-good movie about outback teens attending a debutante ball.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
28 Apr. 2026
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The changes bring a bit of the Australian outback to the zoo for koalas, which are an endangered species.—
Cody Jackson,
Sun Sentinel,
24 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Backlands.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backlands. Accessed 16 May. 2026.
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