backlash
Americannoun
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backlashes
plural
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a sudden, forceful backward movement; recoil.
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a strong or violent reaction, as to some social or political change.
a backlash of angry feeling among Southern conservatives within the party.
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Machinery.
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the space between the thickness of a gear tooth and the width of the space between teeth in the mating gear, designed to allow for a film of lubricant, binding from heat expansion and eccentricity, or manufacturing inaccuracies.
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play or lost motion between loosely fitting machine parts.
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Angling. a snarled line on a reel, usually caused by a faulty cast.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a reaction or recoil between interacting worn or badly fitting parts in a mechanism
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the play between parts
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a sudden and adverse reaction, esp to a political or social development
a public backlash against the government is inevitable
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of backlash
Explanation
When many people react against something in the same way, you can call it a backlash. A backlash against government policies can result in mass protests. When people get angry enough about something — or just tired of hearing about it — the result can be a backlash. An influx of refugees to a city can cause a backlash against immigration, and the popularity of a particular style of music might eventually cause a backlash against it. A true backlash involves many people acting together. The original, 1815 meaning of backlash was "recoil between parts of a machine." It wasn't until the 1950's that the figurative meaning came into use.
Vocabulary lists containing backlash
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Hollywood A-listers are more comfortable than ever with cloning their voice and likeness to create a new stream of income, despite the threat of viewer backlash to artificial intelligence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
In an ABC News interview, he explained his change of heart and why A.I. companies “dug their own grave” and “got the backlash they deserve.”
From Slate ● Aug. 29, 2026
No such backlash came for Dolly when she spoke out against Tennessee’s anti-trans laws or in support of the George Floyd protests.
From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026
Trump privately fumed at the backlash, officials said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“I was terrified of a backlash, of people asking me, ‘Are you even human?’
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
Several celebrities or influencers who have ventured into the crypto market have faced similar backlashes.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2024
Oligarchs haven’t always been willing to be visible because in history, there have been backlashes against wealth and wealth-power.
From Slate ● Nov. 15, 2024
By starting the exercise while most students were away on winter break, university leaders minimized the raucous backlashes that have bedeviled previous attempts by campus officials to take control of the park.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 6, 2024
Others, such as Boeing and the city of Seattle, have pushed ahead with mandatory back-to-office policies, but now face employee backlashes.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2022
I’ve been thinking about that a lot this week as I’ve been reporting on anti-feminist backlashes.
From New York Times ● Jun. 8, 2022
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
