Phrase guide

jerkwater town

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A small town with minimal facilities and conveniences.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tank town, one-horse town, Podunk, Isolated town, bump in the road, jerkwater, jerk-water, jerkwater town, wide spot in the road, Isolated place, arse end of nowhere, back of beyond, back forty, backcountry, backwater, backwoods, beyond the black stump, boondock, boondocks, boonies, bumfuck middle of nowhere, bumfuck nowhere, dullsville, edge of the earth, edge of the world, ends of the earth, ends of the world, hinterland, middle of nowhere, north forty, off the beaten track, out of the way, sticks, the sticks, Actual places, back o' Bourke, Outer Mongolia, Timbuktu, Tuktoyaktuk, Fictional places, Anytown, BFE, Bumblefuck, Bumfuck, Egypt, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nowhere, Ohio, Buttfuck, East Bumfuck, East Jesus, Hicksville, Nowheresville, Squedunk, Whateverville, wop-wops, Woop Woop

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: backwater

History

Etymology

See jerkwater.

Across languages

Translations

2 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: partykularz — small town
  • Russian: захолустный горо́дишко (zaxolustnyj goródiško) — small town