as in countryside
a rural region that forms the edge of the settled or developed part of a country
they purposely vacationed in the backlands to get away from people
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backlands
Noun
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The insurgents, who operate at ease, crossing borders and dominating much of the countryside in Mali and Burkina Faso, now feel emboldened to target capital cities.—
Ulf Laessing,
semafor.com,
30 Apr. 2026 -
Rivers of Babylon, written in 1991 by the Slovak author Peter Pišťanek, tells the story of a young, simple-minded, and broad-shouldered ex-soldier called Rácz who leaves his impoverished village in the Slovakian countryside to work as the stoker of a hotel in Bratislava.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Otaegui came to the par-5 18th needing birdie to force a playoff and hit his tee shot into a bush to the right.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Apr. 2026
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When selecting plants like beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes, look for determinate or bush-type plants—these varieties stay small and are well-adapted to containers.—
Lauren Landers,
The Spruce,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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On arrival, guests are paired with a personal local guide–think of it as the hinterland’s answer to a butler—on hand to arrange everything from restaurant bookings to last-minute requests, typically handled with a quick text.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 Apr. 2026
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Moreover, as soon as Christianity began to spread outside his native land, Christian converts faced new situations in unexpected contexts, completely different from those of their founder, an itinerant Jewish preacher in the sparsely populated hinterlands of rural Galilee.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This will be one of a record nine international games scheduled for the 2026 season, which will take place across four continents in seven countries.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
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Italy’s navy chief of staff Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto told state broadcaster RAI this week that his country is ready to deploy up to four vessels to help clear the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters.—
Sarah Dean,
NBC news,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Some of the coolest crappie fishing of the year occurs in backwaters that are easily accessible by foot.—
Cory Schmidt,
Outdoor Life,
15 Apr. 2026
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Gold transformed Victoria from a pastoral backwater into the most celebrated colony of the empire.—
Britannica Editors,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Experts also noted that DeepSeek made no reference to using Chinese chips during training, which is a notable omission given the broader push for technological self-sufficiency, and one that stands out as the model continues to lag behind leading US frontier systems.—
Bojan Stojkovski,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Apr. 2026
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But the new frontier in the talent war speaks to AI giants’ changing priorities.—
Seema Mody,Kate Rooney,
CNBC,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The Deb dispute is playing out across different fronts in Los Angeles and Australia, overshadowing the feel-good movie about outback teens attending a debutante ball.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
28 Apr. 2026
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The changes bring a bit of the Australian outback to the zoo for koalas, which are an endangered species.—
Cody Jackson,
Sun Sentinel,
24 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Backlands.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backlands. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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