backwards

backward

/ (ˈbækwədz) /

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See synonyms for backwards on Thesaurus.com

adverb

towards the rear

with the back foremost

in the reverse of usual order or direction

to or towards the past

into a worse statethe patient was slipping backwards

towards the point of origin

bend over backwards, lean over backwards or fall over backwards informal to make a special effort, esp in order to please

know backwards informal to understand completely

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!

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Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

affect

effect

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Words nearby backwards

back walkover, backward, backward and forward, backwardation, backward heart failure, backwards, backwash, backwater, backwater valve, backwind, backwoods

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use backwards in a sentence

The city is bending over backwards for restaurants, hair salons, barbershops – that they would consider putting another layer of red tape to re-open hotels is really unfair.
City to Weigh Measure Giving Laid-Off Hotel Workers First Shot at Open Jobs|Maya Srikrishnan|September 8, 2020|Voice of San Diego
We should note that some political scientists argue that Gehl and Porter’s analysis of party power has it backwards.
America’s Hidden Duopoly (Ep. 356 Rebroadcast)|Stephen J. Dubner|September 3, 2020|Freakonomics
It works great looking backwards, but going forwards it doesn’t work.
The Economics of Sports Gambling (Ep. 388 Rebroadcast)|Stephen J. Dubner|August 20, 2020|Freakonomics
It’s also clear that this is not how the brain solves the learning problem, because it requires error signals to be sent backwards in both time and space across the synapses between neurons, which is clearly impossible.
A New Brain-Inspired Learning Method for AI Saves Memory and Energy|Edd Gent|July 27, 2020|Singularity Hub

It strikes me that you got that exactly backwards with your political career.
The Prime Minister Who Cried Brexit (Ep. 392)|Stephen J. Dubner|October 10, 2019|Freakonomics
It seems backwards to applaud what is already necessary, what has already been clear for a long time.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Protesting|Rawiya Kameir, Judnick Mayard|December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Much of the Internet still harbors very backwards views towards women.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Why He’s Exploring the Word ‘Feminism’ and Online Misogyny|Marlow Stern|September 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Since bandwidth has become reasonable, paying extra for it feels like a backwards move.
Porn Fights For Your Right to Surf: Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube Lead Charge For Net Neutrality|Aurora Snow|September 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the search for an alternative, both writers looked not forward, but backwards.
In the Future We'll All Be Renters: America's Disappearing Middle Class|Joel Kotkin|August 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Speaking up about this backwards philosophy is actually how she got the gig.
Who’s That ‘Bum’ Girl? The Brit Telling Americans How To Wipe Their Asses|Sara Lieberman|June 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The series is so taught that it can be recited forwards‌ and backwards—the only true test of learning any series.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
His imagination, wakened by Egypt, plunged backwards with a sense of strange familiarity.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
He went backwards, sailing through the air, to land in the evergreen bed.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
All belonged to the first days in Egypt before he noticed anything; the mind worked backwards to their gleaning.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
The natural result was that the ʼrikisha man bolted and the ʼrikisha tilted backwards, to the discomfort of the fool riding in it.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman