Hinterland

//ˈhɪntə(ɹ)ˌlænd// noun

noun ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The land immediately next to, and inland from, a coast. countable, uncountable

    "In West Wales it has never been possible until recently to exploit the magnificent natural harbour of Milford Haven, for there was no industrial hinterland."

  2. 2
    a remote and undeveloped area wordnet
  3. 3
    The rural territory surrounding an urban area, especially a port. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A remote or undeveloped area. countable, uncountable

    "In the film, Hanks is a veteran traversing the Texas hinterlands during the Reconstruction period when he stumbles upon a lost young white girl (Helena Zengel) who only speaks Kiowa, and is forced to undergo a dangerous journey to bring the orphan to her family."

  5. 5
    That which is unknown or unexplored about someone. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "Near-synonym: shadow"

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    An area of land far from the sea. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    Anything vague or ill-defined, especially something that is ill understood. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "Near-synonym: shadowland"

Synonyms

All synonyms
backwoodsbackwoodsboondockssticksbackcountryactual places

Example

More examples

"The enterprise of an already distant past had brought every land under civilization. The Sahara was a lake district, crowded with sun-proud holiday resorts. The arctic islands of Canada, ingeniously warmed by directed tropical currents, were the homes of vigorous northerners. The coasts of Antarctica, thawed in the same manner, were permanently inhabited by those engaged in exploiting the mineral wealth of the hinterland."

Etymology

Borrowed from German Hinterland, from hinter (“behind”) + Land (“land”), cognate to English hinder (“back, rear”) + land. First used in English in 1888 by George Chisholm in his work Handbook of Commercial Geography originally as hinderland, but the current spelling (following German) became more popular. The term is characteristic of a thalassocratic analysis of space (from the point of view of a nation with maritime supremacy, such as 19th-century Britain).

Related phrases

ill defined

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.