backwater
Americannoun
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water held or forced back, as by a dam, flood, or tide.
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a place or state of stagnant backwardness.
This area of the country is a backwater that continues to resist progress.
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an isolated, peaceful place.
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a stroke executed by pushing a paddle forward, causing a canoe to move backward.
noun
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a body of stagnant water connected to a river
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water held or driven back, as by a dam, flood, or tide
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an isolated, backward, or intellectually stagnant place or condition
verb
Etymology
Origin of backwater
Explanation
Backwater is water that’s stagnant and out of the current. It’s a still pool created by a dam or a curve in the river. If a small town is described as backwater, then not much happens or changes there. The word backwater has been around since the 14th Century meaning “water behind a dam.” Now it refers to any flat water, not just the water behind a dam. Backwater can also describe a place or situation that seems stuck in a rut, unmoved by current events. Literally, backwater is water that’s away from the current; figuratively, backwater is a place that’s away from current events.
Vocabulary lists containing backwater
Red Kayak
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This Week In Culture: October 19–25, 2019
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Last Night at the Telegraph Club
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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.
Not long ago, China was a backwater for drug research.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
Her persona is part space alien, part naïf of some Baltic backwater.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 21, 2025
America’s transformation during the 19th century from an agrarian backwater into a global power was captained by men who engaged in maneuvers that would be completely illegal today but weren’t at the time.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 2, 2025
Decades of investment in infrastructure and training have taken China from a sporting backwater to a medal-winning machine that recently equalled the United States with 40 golds at the Paris Olympics.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2025
It creates a backwater eddy—a dimple, if you will.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
