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
Thoughtfully constructed in 2002 to honor the natural environment, the Murphy River Walk traces the banks of the Hiwassee and Valley Rivers, where the two rivers converge to create the backwaters of Lake Hiwassee.
—
Symiah Dorsey, Southern Living, 6 Dec. 2024
Previously, wild rice was most commonly found in the still, shallow backwater areas of the river.
—Madeline Heim, Journal Sentinel, 4 Dec. 2024
Set in the future with humanity colonizing the Solar System, the resources across the various planets and asteroids render the Earth a financial backwater.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
The 20-year road Army traveled from football backwater to College Football Playoff contender was hardly a straight line.
—Pete Sampson, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for backwater 
Symiah Dorsey, Southern Living, 6 Dec. 2024
Previously, wild rice was most commonly found in the still, shallow backwater areas of the river.
—Madeline Heim, Journal Sentinel, 4 Dec. 2024
Set in the future with humanity colonizing the Solar System, the resources across the various planets and asteroids render the Earth a financial backwater.
—Ollie Barder, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024
The 20-year road Army traveled from football backwater to College Football Playoff contender was hardly a straight line.
—Pete Sampson, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for backwater
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backwater
Noun
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In addition to his retail space, King also operates a 7,000-square-foot factory nestled in the countryside of Florence, Italy, where local skilled artisans use timeless techniques.—
Tanya Benedicto Klich,
Forbes,
18 Feb. 2025
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Caught amid the changing tides is a young boy named Xu Chuang (Wang Shang), who’s been sent to live with relatives in the countryside while his parents make ends meet elsewhere.—
Jordan Mintzer,
The Hollywood Reporter,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
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From customer support to automating business operations, AI Integrations is accelerating businesses to the final frontier of digital evolution.—
Jason Phillips,
USA TODAY,
15 Feb. 2025
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Location sharing is the final frontier in digital expressions of coupledom.—
Shivani Vora,
New York Times,
14 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Orange County Fire Authority firefighters saved a woman and man from the San Juan Creek in San Juan Capistrano, California after receiving reports at 1:42 a.m. that they were trapped in the water, holding onto trees and bushes, the fire department shared in a social media statement.—
Greta Cross,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2025
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These bushes stay green year-round despite getting almost no summer rainfall.—
Lauren Sommer,
NPR,
11 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Years of underinvestment in treatment plants on both sides along the border have exacerbated pollution, but efforts to improve conditions are underway in both countries.—
Tammy Murga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Feb. 2025
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This country’s Cold War paranoia left it riddled with bunkers.—
Maureen O'Hare,
CNN,
15 Feb. 2025
Noun
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From obscurity to fame Pandas once roamed a vast swath of China, along with parts of northern Myanmar and Vietnam, but human encroachment and climate change shrank the habitat of the bamboo-munching bears to just six mountain ranges above the Sichuan basin, deep in China’s hinterland.—
Nectar Gan,
CNN,
26 Jan. 2025
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The Premier League will always be the priority, yet Emery views this competition as his managerial hinterland.—
Jacob Tanswell,
The Athletic,
20 Jan. 2025
Noun
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With just a hundred or so residents in an area bigger than the Netherlands, this piece of the Australian outback is something precious in a world swamped by wireless signals: an island of unusual calm, a clear window onto the cosmos.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
28 Nov. 2017
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True to its name, this extraordinary conflict saw armed soldiers pitted against emus (Dromaius novaehollandiae), large flightless birds native to the Australian outback.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
26 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near backwater
Cite this Entry
“Backwater.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backwater. Accessed 22 Feb. 2025.
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