backwards
Britishadverb
-
towards the rear
-
with the back foremost
-
in the reverse of usual order or direction
-
to or towards the past
-
into a worse state
the patient was slipping backwards
-
towards the point of origin
-
informal to make a special effort, esp in order to please
-
informal to understand completely
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.
Bank earnings are as much an art as a science, and to estimate loan-loss provisions a firm has to come up with a worst-case scenario and work backwards from there.
From MarketWatch • May 5, 2026
"We are bending backwards to help but we don't have a magic wand," she said, calling on African governments to help with tax breaks and investments of their own.
From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026
She said that more taxis in bus lanes was a "step backwards" on addressing traffic congestion and "adds another element of risk" for cyclists.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
“If you dove off a skyscraper backwards, that’s what it felt like for five seconds,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
She did not answer, and we strolled backwards and forwards on the lawns.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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.
