backwoods
Americanplural noun
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partially cleared, sparsely populated forests
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any remote sparsely populated place
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(modifier) of, from, or like the backwoods
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(modifier) uncouth; rustic
Etymology
Origin of backwoods
An Americanism dating back to 1700–10; back 1 + woods 1 (in the sense “a forest”)
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.
Last fall, indie pop auteur Tei Shi immersed herself in the British Columbia backwoods during a creative retreat — an experience that helped her reclaim artistic control over her decade-long career.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
A hiker who was lost in the backwoods of British Columbia for more than five weeks has been found alive.
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2024
Rust Cohle slow dances with murmurings about Carcosa in Season 1, and the anthology’s creator Nic Pizzolatto spiced up the mystique by depositing backwoods fetishes near crime scenes.
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2024
Mr. Blackstone, 56, began fighting fires during his college years when he worked as a backwoods ranger, often getting called in to help with forest fires.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
In close quarters he suffered their backwoods lubricity and knucklehead talk.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
