backwoods

American  

[bak-woodz] / ˈbækˈwʊdz /

noun

1. (often used with a singular verb) wooded or partially uncleared and unsettled districts.

2. any remote or isolated area.

   Synonyms:

   backwater, bush, boonies, boondocks, woodland, wild, hinterland

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adjective

1. of or relating to the backwoods.

2. unsophisticated; uncouth.

backwoods British  

/ ˈbækwʊdz /

plural noun

1. partially cleared, sparsely populated forests

2. any remote sparsely populated place

3. (modifier) of, from, or like the backwoods

4. (modifier) uncouth; rustic

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Etymology

Origin of backwoods

An Americanism dating back to 1700–10; back ¹ + woods ¹ (in the sense “a forest”)

Example Sentences

As one of the singer’s sound engineers told Mr. McDonough, the trick was to get Stewart into some “backwoods” dive where “he’d really fly. Stewart was just one of those downward-mobility guys.”

From The Wall Street Journal

In the 2009 film “Get Low,” he was a backwoods hermit who staged his own funeral.

From Los Angeles Times

The era of mega-fires is causing a little noticed climate migration that is reshaping life for thousands of people in California’s backwoods, pushing small, self-reliant mountain communities to the brink of extinction.

From Los Angeles Times

They paid the midwife $7.50 for me — this was in the backwoods of Louisiana.”

From Los Angeles Times

A hiker who was lost in the backwoods of British Columbia for more than five weeks has been found alive.

From BBC

Related Words

• backcountry
• outback