backwater

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.

Ms. Allen concedes their regionalism but argues that they were wiser for understanding that a “provincial backwater offers as full a panoply of human folly, nobility, tragedy, and absurdity as any great metropolis.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 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

Olympics, but Southern California — which did not have a Russian Consulate — was considered a backwater in the Cold War spy game.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2025

Seattle was a city that had long been considered, and was sometimes prone to consider itself, a backwater in many regards, and not least in the world of sports.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown