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Definitions

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.

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

Once viewed as an intellectual backwater, geroscience—the study of aging—is now at the frontier of biology, attracting funding and talent, inspiring new journals, and generating a flood of peer-reviewed research.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 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

But that area, too, remained a cultural backwater occupied by hunter-gatherers for most of its history.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond




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