backward

[bak-werd]

adverb

1. toward the back or rear.

   Antonyms: forward

2. with the back foremost.

3. in the reverse of the usual or right way.

   counting backward from 100.

4. toward the past.

   to look backward over one's earlier mistakes.

5. toward a less advanced state; retrogressively.

   Since the overthrow of the president the country has moved steadily backward.

adjective

1. directed toward the back or past.

2. reversed; returning.

   a backward movement;

   a backward journey.

3. behind in time or progress; late; slow.

   a backward learner;

   a backward country.

   Synonyms: underdeveloped, retarded, tardy

4. bashful or hesitant; shy.

   a backward lover.

   Synonyms: retiring, timid, disinclined

backward

/ ˈbækwəd /

adjective

1. (usually prenominal) directed towards the rear

   a backward glance

2. retarded in physical, material, or intellectual development

   backward countries

   a backward child

3. 1. of or relating to the past; conservative or reactionary

   2. ( in combination )

      backward-looking

4. reluctant or bashful

   a backward lover

5. chess (of a pawn) behind neighbouring pawns and unable to be supported by them

adverb

1. a variant of backwards

Other Word Forms

• backwardly adverb
• backwardness noun
• unbackward adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of backward¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, backward is from the Middle English word bakwarde. See back ¹, -ward

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. backward and forward, thoroughly: Also backwards and forwards.

   He knew his lesson backward and forward.

More idioms and phrases containing backward

• bend over backward
• fall over (backwards)
• know like a book (backwards and forwards)

Example Sentences

You can play the normal way, or you can play the reverse—starting at the 18th hole and working backward.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

Strangely, it tells the history of the earth in reverse, beginning in the present, so humanity isn’t the consummation of evolution, but instead casts its shadow backward.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

He has it backward: Such efforts strengthen shareholder democracy by giving individual investors a voice against activists and institutional investors.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

The social themes become more prominent in the second half, and we learn or are reminded just how toxic the military was to gay people, and how backward was its attitude.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Republicans oppose the measure, arguing that partisan maps would take the state backward.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bashful 
• hesitant 
• shy