Synonyms for backwards
back·wards

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:1.0 / 1 vote

1. backwardsadjective

   Oriented toward the back.

   The battleship had three backwards guns at the stern, in addition to the primary complement.

   Synonyms:
   rearward, hindwards, retrograde

2. backwardsadverb

   In the opposite direction of usual.

   The clock did not work because the battery was inserted backwards.

   Synonyms:
   switched, back to front, reversedly, contrariwise, mirror image

3. backwardsadjective

   In a manner such that the back precedes the front.

   The tour guide walked backwards while droning on to the bored seniors.

   Synonyms:
   in reverse, obsolete, crude, dated, primitive, back to front

4. backwardsadjective

   Clumsy, inept, or inefficient.

   He was a very backwards scholar, but he was a marvel on the football field.

   Synonyms:
   fumbling, awkward, incompetent, poor

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.7 / 3 votes

1. back, backward, backwards, rearward, rearwardsadverb

   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:
   rearwards, back, backward, rearward

2. backward, backwardsadverb

   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:
   rearwards, back, backward, rearward

Editors ContributionRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. magnetic reversal

   going the opposite way

   we should do the steps backwards to solve the problem.

   Submitted by rinat on September 4, 2019  

2. reverse order

   they have the same meaning

   reverse the order you are headed go backwards

   Submitted by anonymous on December 26, 2019  

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. backwardsadjective

   Synonyms:
   regressively, rearwards, aback, behind, ABAFT

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "backwards":

   back, backward, retrograde, rearward, upside-down, behind, ago, back-to-front

How to pronounce backwards?

How to say backwards in sign language?

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How to use backwards in a sentence?

1. Michael Frerichs:

   We’ll make far less in interest than we’ll be paying in interest to the bondholders, i think we need to make these investments in infrastructure, but we're going about it in the wrong order. It seems backwards issuing the bonds and hoping they get an appropriation to spend them.

2. Jeannie Suk:

   The schools, upon receipt of the Dear Colleague letter and looking at its requirements, weren't completely sure of exactly how to comply, and so in many cases they did more than they necessarily needed to do, they kind of in a sense over-complied. Now, they bent over backwards, and then that's when they put in place -- kind of in a hurry -- these procedures that now don't respect fair process.

3. David Oman:

   Donald Trump’s message is getting a little stale, a little old, looking backwards more than forwards, we feel like a new generation of leadership is good for the party. And if that’s good for the party, it could be good for the country.

4. Ben Schomin:

   Everybody is bending over backwards, he knows it. It’s just really, really painful when he says something that stupid.

5. Gia Lisa Krahne:

   The captain speaking about the presence of the police, as if this is something that makes everyone feel safe, but they are having a hundred police out there from after 8:30 p.m. many times on militarized bicycles. On June 5, I was the first person brutally arrested. I was not there to protest. It was 10:05 p.m., and five men pulled me forward, and threw me facedown on the ground, and bloodied my friend that was next to me while I was walking backwards.