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backwater

[bak-waw-ter, -wot-er] / ˈbækˌwɔ tər, -ˌwɒt ər /


ADJECTIVE
back country
Synonyms




Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Sausalito has since transformed from hippie backwater to high-end suburb, but the club maintains an air of salty informality.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

America’s transformation during the 19th century from an agrarian backwater into a global power was captained by men who engaged in maneuvers that would be completely illegal today but weren’t at the time.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025

Western adventurers have been turning up in Bali since the early 20th Century, when it was seen as an exotic backwater, home to Hindu temples and rice fields.

From BBC • Sep. 27, 2025

The exact coordinates of this backwater are a bit hazy, but Storyteller 2 helpfully pinpoints the locale as “a place where being from somewhere is who you are.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2025

They’ve risked Mobutu and every imaginable parasite in the backwater places where children were left to die or endure when the Underdowns and their ilk fled the country.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver




Vocabulary lists containing backwater


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