backward

USBAK-wurd/ˈbækwɚd/UKBAK-wuhd/ˈbæk.wə(ɹ)d/

27 meanings of backward

1
adverb
Toward the space behind you, opposite to the way you are facing.
Like moving toward your heels instead of your toes.
He stepped backward to get out of the dog's way.
She leaned backward in her chair until it almost tipped.
Similarback, rearward
Oppositeforward
2
adjective
Moving or facing toward the area behind, not the front.
Like a step that carries you toward your back instead of your front.
She gave a quick backward glance before leaving the room.
He made a backward jump to dodge the ball.
Similarrearward, reverse
Oppositeforward
3
adjective
Found at or near the back of something.
They sat in the backward rows of the theater.
The backward edge of the field was muddy and unused.
Similarrear, back
Oppositefront, forward
Note
4
adverb
At, near, or toward the back of something.
The crew stowed the gear backward in the hold.
He shifted his weight backward over the bike's rear wheel.
Similaraft, rearward
Oppositeforward
5
adverb
From the end to the start, in reverse order.
Like reading a list from the bottom line up to the top.
She can say the whole alphabet backward.
He counted backward from ten to one before the dive.
6
adjective
Put in the opposite order, from last to first.
The list was in backward order, so we fixed it.
He wrote the numbers in a backward sequence by mistake.
Similarreverse, reversed, inverted
7
adverb
With the front part facing the wrong way.
Like wearing a hat with the front turned to the back.
He put his shirt on backward by mistake.
The poster was hung backward, so the words faced the wall.
8
adverbfiguratively
Toward a worse state instead of getting better.
Like climbing a hill but sliding down lower than where you started.
The country seemed to slide backward after the crisis.
Their savings went backward as prices kept rising.
Similarback
Oppositeforward
9
adjectivefiguratively
Moving against progress rather than toward it.
Critics called the new rule a backward move.
The plan felt like a backward decision for the school.
Similarretrograde, regressive, reactionary
Oppositeprogressive
10
adjectivefiguratively
Lacking modern development, as a place or way of life.
Visitors wrongly called the village backward because it had no cars.
He dismissed the old farming methods as backward.
Similarundeveloped, underdeveloped, primitive, unsophisticated
Oppositeadvanced, developed, sophisticated, modern

11
adjectivefiguratively
Having old-fashioned ideas and not open to new thinking.
His backward views on women surprised the younger staff.
The club had backward rules that nobody really liked.
Similarold-fashioned, outdated, obsolete, antiquated, archaic
Oppositeprogressive
12
adjectivefiguratively
Slow to learn or understand things.
The old report unfairly called the boy backward.
Teachers once labeled slow readers as backward.
Similarslow
Oppositebright, quick, clever
13
adjectivefiguratively
Behind in growth or development for its age or stage.
The plant looked backward compared with the others in the row.
Doctors once described some children as backward in growth.
Similarslow, delayed, late
Oppositeadvanced, precocious
Note
14
adverb
Going or looking toward an earlier time.
Like flipping back through old pages of a calendar.
Looking backward, she remembered her childhood home.
The story moves backward to the years before the war.
Similarback
Oppositeforward, ahead
15
adjective
Moving opposite to the usual, forward direction of travel.
Like water flowing the wrong way up a pipe.
The faulty pump caused a backward flow of water.
He took a backward step to avoid the puddle.
Similarretrograde
Oppositeforward
Note
16
adverb
Toward the place behind you instead of in front.
Like walking toward a door behind you without turning around.
The swimmer pushed backward off the pool wall.
She glanced backward to check the empty road.
Similarback, rearward
Oppositeforward, ahead
17
adjectivefiguratively
Late, or behind the point things should have reached by now.
Like flowers that bloom later than all the others.
The cold spring left the crops backward this year.
The whole harvest was backward after weeks of rain.
Similarlate, overdue, tardy, belated, behindhand
Oppositeearly, forward
Note
18
adjective
Shy and unwilling to come forward or act.
Like a child who hides behind a parent instead of saying hello.
He was too backward to raise his hand in class.
The shy puppy was backward around strangers.
Similarshy, bashful, reticent, diffident, timid
Oppositeforward, bold, confident, outgoing
Note
19
noun
The time or place that lies behind, now past.
Like looking back over a long road you have already walked.
He gazed into the backward, longing for the days gone by.
All her hopes lay in the backward, never in the days ahead.
Similarpast
Oppositefuture
Note
20
adverb
In a way that turns back on itself or on the doer.
Like a ball thrown at a wall that bounces straight back at you.
The harsh words seemed to turn backward and wound the speaker.
Her plan bent backward and ended up hurting only herself.
Similarback
Note
21
adjective
In chess, a pawn that has fallen behind its neighbors and cannot move up safely.
Like a runner who falls behind the group and cannot catch up.
His backward pawn became an easy target in the endgame.
She traded pieces to attack the backward pawn on the open file.
Note
22
adjective
In cricket, on the part of the field behind the batsman's line.
Like standing behind the batter instead of in front of him.
The captain moved a fielder to a backward position near the boundary.
A thick edge flew straight to the backward fielder.
Note
23
adjective
In cricket, placed further behind the batsman's line than another fielder or spot.
Like taking one more step back than the person next to you.
The captain set the fielder backward of point to guard the gap.
She stood backward of the crease to cut off the late shots.
Oppositeforward
Note
24
verbdatedtransitive
To hold something back or slow it down.
Like putting a brake on something to slow it down.
Bad weather can backward the building work for weeks.
Delays like these backward the whole project.
Similarretard, hinder, impede, hamper, delay
Oppositeadvance, further, promote, accelerate
Note
25
adjectiveobsolete
Unwilling, or not at all keen to do something.
Like someone who keeps saying no to every invitation.
He was backward to lend money to anyone he did not trust.
For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves.
1713, Alexander Pope, Windsor ForestHere, backward means unwilling or reluctant, not at all keen to be slaves.
Note
26
adjectiveobsolete
Already gone by, and now belonging to the past.
The soul forgets her schemes of Hope and Pride, / and flies unconscious o'er each backward year.
1812, George Gordon Lord Byron, Childe Harold's PilgrimageHere, backward means already gone by, so each year now in the past.
Similarpast, bygone, historical, olden
Note
27
adverbobsolete
At a time that has already gone by, in the past.
Note

Practice

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Origin

From an old English word made of 'back' plus '-ward', meaning toward the back.