Meanings
- not comparableNative to or located in a remote rural location.
Despite the court victory, Archer resigned as deputy chairman and rehabilitated himself by working as a party stalwart in backwood constituencies.
2000 April 17, Helen Gibson, “Another Archer Mystery”, in Time1 more example
The house itself, although far more spacious and comfortable than the majority of backwood farmhouses, was built in the usual fashion, of solid logs, and was evidently designed to resist attack.
1885, G. A. Henty, True to the Old Flag, chapter 1 — A Frontier Farm - not comparableRustic, unsophisticated, countrified.
"That's what you mean, dandy boy — for you're only a dandy boy, you know, and they don't get married to backwood Southern girls."
1889, Bret Harte, chapter 10, in Cressy1 more example
Here, after supper, most of the company stretched themselves in backwood style, before the fire; but Washington was shown into a bedroom.
1859, Washington Irving, chapter 4, in Life of George Washington
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From back + wood; compare backwater.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
backwood. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backwood
“backwood.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backwood. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “backwood,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backwood.
Source: backwood on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.