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
Why are the Ukrainians risking lives and resources on a comparatively meaningless action in a sector that’s a relative backwater, when critical Ukrainian strongpoints in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast are under relentless Russian assault?
—
David Axe, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
But even as ties have grown in recent years, Washington’s foreign policy establishment still considers Africa to be a strategic backwater.
—Ken Opalo, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2024
Several companies have tested their autonomous vehicles in Japan, but the country is a bit of a backwater compared to China and the US.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 17 Dec. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for backwater
David Axe, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
But even as ties have grown in recent years, Washington’s foreign policy establishment still considers Africa to be a strategic backwater.
—Ken Opalo, Foreign Affairs, 4 Dec. 2024
Several companies have tested their autonomous vehicles in Japan, but the country is a bit of a backwater compared to China and the US.
—Andrew J. Hawkins, The Verge, 17 Dec. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for backwater
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backwater
Noun
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Otherwise, there is not a great deal for miles around other than fields and countryside, cattle and birdsong and the occasional row of thatched cottages.—
Daniel Taylor,
The Athletic,
14 Mar. 2025
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Radwan Alo fled his home in the countryside outside Qardaha, the hometown of the Assad family, and crossed the river into Lebanon.—
Hogir Abdo,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2025
Noun
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While most automakers have relegated AI to safety-system technology in current models, Mercedes' use of AI in the cabin is a new frontier for the North American market, especially for a vehicle on the lower end of a company's lineup.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
Newsweek,
13 Mar. 2025
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Death in a hail of bullets has been used to punish mutinies and desertion in armies, as frontier justice in America’s Old West, and as a tool of terror and political repression in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.—
Jeffrey Collins,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Mar. 2025
Noun
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For example, summer offers bushes for hiding, while winter’s snow will crunch under your feet, potentially alerting enemies.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
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It’s abandoned now and has fallen into disrepair, with broken slats on the wood steps and prickly bushes growing over the front porch.—
Melinda Newman,
Billboard,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Trump has long believed that the U.S. trade deficit is an indication that Americans are getting ripped off by other countries.—
Chad P. Bown,
Foreign Affairs,
11 Mar. 2025
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Even with the new deal, the original 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from all countries will still go into effect on Wednesday as planned, according to White House spokesman Kush Desai.—
Michelle Stoddart,
ABC News,
11 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Celebrity can be as alluring as royalty to someone who grew up eating gruel in the hinterlands, though such concepts must be imparted somehow.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
16 Feb. 2025
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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
Noun
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Finding escaped marsupials in the vast Australian outback may sound much harder than finding a needle in a haystack.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
13 Mar. 2025
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Take the story of the longest living trapdoor spider, who survived in the Australian outback to the ripe age of 43.—
Scott Travers,
Forbes,
21 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Backwater.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backwater. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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