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
But the state’s chronically high electric rates combined with the disappearance of trust between regulators and utilities has transformed PURA from political backwater to lightning rod and Republican criticism of Lamont’s decision was immediate.
—
Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 30 June 2025
His fiction is set all over the place—genteel backwaters like Miami, Hollywood, and Atlantic City, with excursions as far afield as the Dominican Republic, Italy, and Israel.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for backwater
Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 30 June 2025
His fiction is set all over the place—genteel backwaters like Miami, Hollywood, and Atlantic City, with excursions as far afield as the Dominican Republic, Italy, and Israel.
—Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for backwater
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backwater
Noun
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On highways and surface roads in the rural countryside west of Detroit, the 2025 Ford Explorer was smooth and quiet, with plenty of power for highway acceleration.—
Mark Phelan,
USA Today,
11 Sep. 2025
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Forty-five minutes later, the racetrack appears almost without warning — coiled like a basking viper in the Tuscan countryside.—
Jonathan Hawkins,
CNN Money,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The next frontier is Agentic AI, which Gao sees not as an experiment but as a necessity for keeping pace with youth culture.—
Jamie Gutfreund,
Forbes.com,
9 Sep. 2025
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Cupcake icing and sports drinks — in all their crayon-like colors — are the final frontiers for Nick Scheidler's team.—
Alina Selyukh,
NPR,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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But while Narula initially wanted to keep the grass, Kemp replaced the bushes with woody perennials ‒ red osier dogwoods, a spicebush, sweet pepper bushes, as well as smooth-leaf hydrangeas.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
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Walkers can take in the staggered plots of orange groves and prickly pear bushes in Marsalforn Valley or soak up the quiet back streets of Gharb, the island’s westernmost town, overlooking Dwerja.—
AFAR Media,
AFAR Media,
28 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Neural highways that once buzzed with activity are becoming quiet country roads, rarely traveled and slowly overgrown.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
12 Sep. 2025
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This administration is trying to thrust our country into turmoil in order to reap power for themselves.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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That doesn’t mean Disney and Pixar are waving the white flag of surrender and banishing original storytelling to the hinterlands.—
Pamela McClintock,
HollywoodReporter,
24 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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Brothers Nathan and Bub Bright meet for the first time in months at the remote fence line separating their cattle ranches in the lonely outback.—
Kris Slugg,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
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The event took competitors on a 3,000-kilometer (around 1,864-mile) journey across the Australian outback, from Darwin to Adelaide.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Backwater.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backwater. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
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