backward

Adjective · Adverb
US[bak-werd]/ˈbækwɚd/2 syllables
Synonyms: half-wittedslow-wittedfeeblemindedbackbackwardsrearwardrearwards

Open English WordNet

Adverb (3)

  1. at or to or toward the back or rear“he moved back”“tripped when he stepped backward”“she looked rearward out the window of the car”Synonyms: backbackwardsrearwardrearwardsOpposite frontward
  2. in a manner or order or direction the reverse of normal“it's easy to get the ‘i’ and the ‘e’ backward in words like ‘seize’ and ‘siege’”“the child put her jersey on backward”Synonyms: backwards
  3. in or to or toward a past time“set the clocks back an hour”“never look back”“lovers of the past looking fondly backward”Synonyms: backOpposite forward

Adjective (4)

  1. directed or facing toward the back or rear“a backward view”Opposite forwardSimilar inverse, rearward, regardant, retroflex, retracted, backswept, cacuminal, retral +4 moreSee also regressive, retrospective
  2. (used of temperament or behavior) marked by a retiring nature“a backward lover”Opposite forwardSimilar bashful, blateSee also timid, reserved
  3. retarded in intellectual developmentSynonyms: half-wittedslow-wittedfeeblemindedOpposite precociousSimilar retarded
  4. having made less than normal progress“an economically backward country”Opposite dynamicSimilar undynamic, adynamic

Related words retardation noun

Word of the day · Sep 28About this word
onerousadjective

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Back′ward (…), Back′wards (…) adverb

Origin: Back, adv. + -ward.

1. With the back in advance or foremost; as, to ride backward.

2. Toward the back; toward the rear; as, to throw the arms backward.

3. On the back, or with the back downward.

Thou wilt fall backward.— William Shakespeare

4. Toward, or in, past time or events; ago.

Some reigns backward.— John Locke

5. By way of reflection; reflexively. Sir John Davies

6. From a better to a worse state, as from honor to shame, from religion to sin.

The work went backward.— John Dryden

7. In a contrary or reverse manner, way, or direction; contrarily; as, to read backwards.

We might have... beat them backward home.— William Shakespeare
Back′ward adjective

1. Directed to the back or rear; as, backward glances.

2. Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating; loath.

For wiser brutes were backward to be slaves.— Alexander Pope

3. Not well advanced in learning; not quick of apprehension; dull; inapt; as, a backward child. “The backward learner.” Robert South

4. Late or behindhand; as, a backward season.

5. Not advanced in civilization; undeveloped; as, the country or region is in a backward state.

6. Already past or gone; bygone. rare

And flies unconscious o'er each backward year.— George Noel Gordon, Ld. Byron
Back′ward noun

The state behind or past. obsolete

In the dark backward and abysm of time.— William Shakespeare
Back′ward transitive verb

To keep back; to hinder. obsolete

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

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