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.

In 2020, he became sector chief for the El Centro region, a sleepy California stretch considered a backwater because so few immigrants attempt to cross illegally there.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 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

But the proposed move has largely been perceived as banishing the journalist to a TV backwater where viewers and advertisers dollars are scant.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2025

"Denmark can be a great ally, but you can't treat Greenland, which they have operational control over, as some kind of backwater - it's in the Western hemisphere."

From BBC • Jan. 9, 2025

Too clever to waste away in that backwater, he said.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie