middle of nowhere

plural middles of nowhere

1. countableidiomaticuncountableA very remote or secluded area; a nondescript place lacking population, interesting things, or defining characteristics.

   The train occasionally stops when it crosses a stream in the middle of nowhere to take on water.

   1950 May, Timothy H. Cobb, “The Tanganyika Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 297

   5 more examples

   We set out to demonstrate to the people of the county that a corrupt ring managed the Republican party in this county. . . . We want that corrupt ring knocked into the middle of Nowhere.

   1889 Nov. 2, "The Proof" (editorial), The Daily Record (Kansas, USA), p. 2 (retrieved 12 April 2013)

   "Only we don't happen to be in the middle of nowhere! We're just about a couple of miles from a market town where abides a nice little inn whence petrol can be obtained."

   1920, Margaret Pedler, chapter 29, in The Hermit of Far End

   South Florida's Everglades Jetport is a fancy name for a concrete runway in the middle of nowhere.

   1977 October 17, “Now, the Poor Man's Jumbo Jet”, in Time

   I've been walking through the middle of nowhere / Trying to get to heaven before they close the door

   1997, Bob Dylan, “Tryin' to Get to Heaven”, in Time Out of Mind

   [A]fter weeks of journeying across the monotonous open sea. . . . “You see nothing for 30 days — you’re in the middle of nowhere, you feel like you are in outer space,” said Mr. Domjan.

   2012 May 9, Bettina Wassener, “A Modern Magellan Demonstrates Power of the Sun”, in New York Times, retrieved 12 Apr 2013

   Synonyms: See: Thesaurus:remote place, backwater, backwoods, boondocks, the sticks, Timbuktu