as in countryside
a rural region that forms the edge of the settled or developed part of a country
a distant backwater that didn't even have electricity at that time
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of backwater
Having set up this backwater office where nothing ever happens and then bring death to the door was a brilliant stroke.
—
Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 17 June 2025
In 2001, Michael Dorrell volunteered to move from the Sydney headquarters of Australian investment bank Macquarie to a backwater in its infrastructure investing specialty: the United States of America.
—Hank Tucker, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
Yet a constant among the nations relying on UEFA for a big chunk of club incomes is one few would consider a footballing backwater.
—Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 31 May 2025
One day, while fishing a swampy Texas backwater in his kayak, Lin had a close encounter with an alligator that sparked some hard-bait creativity.
—Alice Jones Webb, Outdoor Life, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for backwater
Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 17 June 2025
In 2001, Michael Dorrell volunteered to move from the Sydney headquarters of Australian investment bank Macquarie to a backwater in its infrastructure investing specialty: the United States of America.
—Hank Tucker, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
Yet a constant among the nations relying on UEFA for a big chunk of club incomes is one few would consider a footballing backwater.
—Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 31 May 2025
One day, while fishing a swampy Texas backwater in his kayak, Lin had a close encounter with an alligator that sparked some hard-bait creativity.
—Alice Jones Webb, Outdoor Life, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for backwater
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backwater
Noun
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My earliest memories are of a huge accordion in front of me while the musicians, who passed through my house – my father, who was a manager of musicians coming from the countryside of Argentina to Buenos Aires, always hosted them – played and rehearsed nearby.—
DAVID BURKE,
Miami Herald,
9 July 2025
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Set in the Tuscan countryside, Castelfalfi is a medieval village surrounded by vineyards and olive groves.—
Heather Richardson,
Travel + Leisure,
8 July 2025
Noun
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Procurement, Deregulation, And Political Pushback The plan calls for updates to federal procurement rules to ensure that frontier models used by the government are free from top-down ideological bias and aligned with principles of free expression.—
Paulo Carvão,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
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Learn About Historic Fort King This U.S. Army frontier fort played an important role in the Second Seminole War when the Seminole fought to protect their native land against American settlers.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
22 July 2025
Noun
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Only 12 original rose bushes remained when Melania oversaw the addition of 200 new ones.—
Meredith Kile,
People.com,
23 July 2025
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Other combinations are radishes under taller veggies, or planting bush beans around crops that are heavy feeders, which reduces weeds and adds extra nitrogen to the soil.—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
22 July 2025
Noun
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Besides the Cousins' Buechel neighborhood home, Moore and his local crew shot at the former D. Nalley's diner in Old Louisville and Powder Keg Fireworks in Jeffersonville, Indiana, as well as various country roads and a lake in Southern Indiana.—
Kirby Adams,
The Courier-Journal,
22 July 2025
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Brussels has exempted defense expenditure from its strict rules on government spending and pledged to create a €150 billion fund from which countries can borrow, at favorable interest rates, to invest in their defense.—
Anna Cooban,
CNN Money,
21 July 2025
Noun
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One is that working class people from the American hinterlands simply lack the time, resources, and networks to gamble on a vocation with so little security.—
Lee Cole
June 17,
Literary Hub,
17 June 2025
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On the opposite shore of the lake, the Venetian denomination Bardolino DOC extends on the morainic hills of the hinterland.—
Elisabetta Tosi,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
Noun
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Carolina Wilga, a German backpacker, was found alive after spending 12 days missing in the remote outback of Western Australia, according to local authorities.—
Hollie Silverman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 July 2025
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This mismatch in the data between the different antennas caused the blur, so to remove it, the researchers eliminated the signal coming from the outer antennas to favor only the inner part of the telescope, which is spread out over about 2.3 square miles in the Australian outback.—
Jacopo Prisco,
CNN Money,
30 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Backwater.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backwater. Accessed 26 Jul. 2025.
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