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
Chaotic warrens in rundown backwaters, such as the desolate apartment complex where Beibei’s grandmother used to live, suggest neglect that’s far from benign.
—
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025
Why are the Ukrainians risking lives and resources on a comparatively meaningless action in a sector that’s a relative backwater, when critical Ukrainian strongpoints in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast are under relentless Russian assault?
—David Axe, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
But even as ties have grown in recent years, Washington’s foreign policy establishment still considers Africa to be a strategic backwater.
—Ken Opalo, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2024
Several companies have tested their autonomous vehicles in Japan, but the country is a bit of a backwater compared to China and the US.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 17 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for backwater
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2025
Why are the Ukrainians risking lives and resources on a comparatively meaningless action in a sector that’s a relative backwater, when critical Ukrainian strongpoints in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast are under relentless Russian assault?
—David Axe, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
But even as ties have grown in recent years, Washington’s foreign policy establishment still considers Africa to be a strategic backwater.
—Ken Opalo, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2024
Several companies have tested their autonomous vehicles in Japan, but the country is a bit of a backwater compared to China and the US.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 17 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for backwater
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backwater
Noun
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Willow and Wolf Ranch in Livermore sits on a hill in the picturesque countryside, but offers easy city access.—
David Caraccio,
Sacbee.com,
26 Mar. 2025
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France France is famous for its fine dining, world-class museums and beautiful beaches and countryside.—
CNN.com,
Mercury News,
24 Mar. 2025
Noun
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At the frontiers of AI, researchers are developing new kinds of AI models that can learn and adapt throughout their lifetimes by continuously updating their weights.—
Rob Toews,
Forbes,
23 Mar. 2025
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New frontiers Coventry’s eight-year mandate will run all the way through to 2033.—
Aleks Klosok,
CNN,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The animal could flee into a bush or pond and suffer a slow death.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
21 Mar. 2025
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The smooth surface of the amphibian enabled it to pass through meter-high bushes and sparse forest.—
Mike Hanlon,
New Atlas,
18 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Central American ally was supposed to be a stopover for migrants from countries that were more challenging for the U.S. to deport to as the Trump administration tried to accelerate deportations.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
22 Mar. 2025
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The Biden administration allowed up to 30,000 people a month from the four countries to come to the United States for two years with eligibility to work.—
Gisela Salomon,
Chicago Tribune,
22 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Celebrity can be as alluring as royalty to someone who grew up eating gruel in the hinterlands, though such concepts must be imparted somehow.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
16 Feb. 2025
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From obscurity to fame Pandas once roamed a vast swath of China, along with parts of northern Myanmar and Vietnam, but human encroachment and climate change shrank the habitat of the bamboo-munching bears to just six mountain ranges above the Sichuan basin, deep in China’s hinterland.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN,
26 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Finding escaped marsupials in the vast Australian outback may sound much harder than finding a needle in a haystack.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
13 Mar. 2025
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Take the story of the longest living trapdoor spider, who survived in the Australian outback to the ripe age of 43.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
21 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Backwater.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backwater. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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