Backwoods vs. Backwater — What's the Difference?

A remote or sparsely inhabited region, especially in North America; away from big towns and from the influence of modern life.

A place or situation regarded as isolated, stagnant, or backward

A remote and undeveloped area

The water held back by a dam or other obstruction

Inaccessible and sparsely populated

(idiomatic) A remote place; somewhere that remains unaffected by new events, progresses, ideas, etc.

Partly or wholly uncleared forest, especially in North America.

Water held or pushed back by or as if by a dam or current.

Pertaining to the backwoods.

A body of water thus formed.

Rough, uncouth, coarse, or crude in social matters.

An inlet or side channel, as on a river, that has little or no current.

The forests or partly cleared grounds on the frontiers.

A rowing or paddling stroke in which the oar or paddle is pushed forward, used to check a boat's forward motion or move it backward.

A rowing stroke in which the oar is pushed forward to stop the boat; see back water

(paper industry) Water used in the papermaking process. Recycled to reduce usage of fresh water, and usually containing residual amounts of chemicals and fibres.

To row or paddle a backwater stroke.

(idiomatic) To vacillate on a long-held position.

Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current, or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar.

An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction.

Water thrown back by the turning of a waterwheel, or by the paddle wheels of a steamer.

A body of water that was created by a flood or tide or by being held or forced back by a dam;

Any backward region that is isolated from the world and resists progress