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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.

Since seizing power as the kingdom’s de facto ruler in 2017, Mohammed has singularly pursued the goal of transforming the kingdom from a cultural and geopolitical backwater into a force on the world stage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

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

The exact coordinates of this backwater are a bit hazy, but Storyteller 2 helpfully pinpoints the locale as “a place where being from somewhere is who you are.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 22, 2025

The university was then almost as much of a physics backwater as Berkeley had been when Lawrence first set foot on its campus, especially in comparison to its Cambridge neighbor, MIT.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik




Vocabulary lists containing backwater