What is another word for backward?
Synonyms for backward
ˈbæk wərdback·ward
This thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word backward.
Wiktionary
backwardadjective
Synonyms:
backwardsbackwardadverb
Antonyms:
progressivebackwardadjective
Pertaining to the direction towards the back.
Synonyms:
backwardsbackwardadjective
Synonyms:
retrogradebackwardadjective
Synonyms:
third worldAntonyms:
forward
English Synonyms and Antonyms
backward
Reluctant (Latin re, back, and lucto, strive, struggle) signifies struggling against what one is urged or impelled to do, or is actually doing; averse (Latin a, from, and verto, turn) signifies turned away as with dislike or repugnance; loath (Anglo-Saxon lath, evil, hateful) signifies having a repugnance, disgust, or loathing for, tho the adjective loath is not so strong as the verb loathe. A dunce is always averse to study; a good student is disinclined to it when a fine morning tempts him out; he is indisposed to it in some hour of weariness. A man may be slow or backward in entering upon that to which he is by no means averse. A man is loath to believe evil of his friend, reluctant to speak of it, absolutely unwilling to use it to his injury. A legislator may be opposed to a certain measure, while not averse to what it aims to accomplish. Compare ANTIPATHY.
Synonyms:
averse, disinclined, indisposed, loath, opposed, reluctant, slow, unwillingAntonyms:
desirous, disposed, eager, favorable, inclined, willing
Princeton's WordNet
backwardadjective
directed or facing toward the back or rear
"a backward view"
Synonyms:
feebleminded, slow-witted, half-wittedAntonyms:
sassy, headlong, guardant(ip), nervy, smart, presumptuous, gardant(ip), cheeky, saucy, forward, full-face, self-assertive, brash, precocious, impertinent, wise, assumptive, fresh, headfirst, overbold, bumptious, overfamiliar, dynamical, dynamic, impudent, assuming, forrad, forrard, forwards, frontwards, frontward, aheadbackwardadjective
(used of temperament or behavior) marked by a retiring nature
"a backward lover"
Synonyms:
feebleminded, slow-witted, half-wittedAntonyms:
self-assertive, forward, gardant(ip), headlong, assuming, bumptious, overfamiliar, impudent, wise, brash, presumptuous, dynamical, fresh, assumptive, headfirst, impertinent, precocious, smart, nervy, saucy, full-face, sassy, guardant(ip), dynamic, overbold, cheeky, ahead, forwards, frontward, frontwards, forrad, forrardbackward, half-witted, slow-witted, feeblemindedadjective
retarded in intellectual development
Synonyms:
feebleminded, slow-witted, half-wittedAntonyms:
overfamiliar, wise, headfirst, nervy, sassy, guardant(ip), brash, gardant(ip), forward, fresh, cheeky, presumptuous, smart, dynamic, headlong, assumptive, full-face, impudent, self-assertive, precocious, dynamical, bumptious, saucy, impertinent, overbold, assuming, forrad, frontwards, forwards, forrard, ahead, frontwardbackwardadverb
having made less than normal progress
"an economically backward country"
Synonyms:
feebleminded, slow-witted, half-wittedAntonyms:
smart, assumptive, gardant(ip), overfamiliar, brash, guardant(ip), saucy, cheeky, assuming, overbold, dynamic, fresh, impudent, presumptuous, impertinent, sassy, headlong, bumptious, self-assertive, wise, precocious, dynamical, headfirst, full-face, forward, nervy, forrard, frontward, ahead, forwards, frontwards, forradback, 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:
backwards, rearwards, back, rearwardAntonyms:
assuming, gardant(ip), full-face, nervy, forward, headfirst, precocious, dynamical, overbold, overfamiliar, dynamic, brash, wise, guardant(ip), self-assertive, bumptious, saucy, sassy, smart, fresh, assumptive, impudent, presumptuous, impertinent, cheeky, headlong, frontwards, forwards, forrad, ahead, frontward, forrardbackward, 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:
backwards, rearwards, back, rearwardAntonyms:
forward, headlong, presumptuous, impudent, overfamiliar, impertinent, smart, sassy, assumptive, gardant(ip), wise, nervy, overbold, cheeky, full-face, dynamical, precocious, saucy, self-assertive, fresh, headfirst, dynamic, guardant(ip), brash, bumptious, assuming, frontward, forrad, forrard, ahead, frontwards, forwardsback, backwardadverb
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:
backwards, rearwards, back, rearwardAntonyms:
gardant(ip), fresh, assuming, dynamical, impertinent, headlong, dynamic, saucy, forward, bumptious, assumptive, overbold, impudent, self-assertive, smart, overfamiliar, presumptuous, cheeky, wise, sassy, full-face, headfirst, nervy, guardant(ip), brash, precocious, frontward, frontwards, forrard, ahead, forwards, forrad
Dictionary of English Synonymes
backwardadjective
Synonyms:
averse, unwilling, reluctant, loath, disinclined, indisposed, wavering, hesitatingbackwardadjective
backwardadjective
Synonyms:
late, tardy, behindhand, after the usual timebackwardadjective
Synonyms:
regressively, rearwards, aback, behind, ABAFT
Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated Words
backwardadjective
Synonyms:
retrograde, retrogressive, reverse, regressive, retrospective, reluctant, averse, loath, disinclined, unwilling, dull, inapt, late, tardy, delayed, undeveloped
PPDB, the paraphrase database
List of paraphrases for "backward":
backwardness, rearward, backwards, retrograde, back, underdeveloped, retrogressive, backward-looking, regressive, overdue, behind, rearwards, arrears, upstream, outdated, lagging, backlog, out-dated, backspace, aft
Words popularity by usage frequency
ranking | word | |
---|---|---|
#103 | back | |
#1531 | behind | |
#2901 | slow | |
#6114 | opposed | |
#10841 | upstream | |
#12026 | backward | |
#12662 | outdated | |
#12694 | backwards | |
#14720 | reluctant | |
#19481 | aft | |
#19538 | unwilling | |
#21061 | overdue | |
#23918 | arrears | |
#25419 | backlog | |
#36202 | lagging | |
#38684 | retrograde | |
#43252 | averse | |
#43914 | underdeveloped | |
#44872 | backspace | |
#54225 | regressive | |
#78508 | loath | |
#90539 | rearward | |
#96428 | backwardness | |
#119355 | disinclined | |
#173035 | indisposed | |
#226482 | retrogressive |
How to use backward in a sentence?
Life is an escalator: You can move forward or backward; you can not remain still.
When I first got there, it was horrible -- you'd have people walking into the station with their intestines hanging out, arms broken backward, black eyes, and they didn't want a police report, they just wanted to hide from their attackers.
The founders sat together with people from the 8200 Unit and they said, ‘Everyone’s focusing on the malware, but instead of focusing on that, step backward one step and look at the people who create the malware,’ the attacker has a weakness, like every human being. We thought about the attack from their point of view -- how they think, behave and act. We have a very good understanding of how they act so we know how to deceive them in their own territory.
Should the incumbent (TIM) control the new entity it would not just be a big U-turn but also a backward step.
There were three soldiers. One soldier signaled for the man to come forward, a soldier was on the edge of the road and he tried to move backward when he slipped. The second soldier opened fire, firing four bullets at the man, after that they tried to give him first aid.
Translations for backward
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- изостанал, назад, обратноBulgarian
- enrereCatalan, Valencian
- vzad, zpátky, dozaduCzech
- antiquiert, zurück, rückwärtsgewandt, zurückgeblieben, altmodisch, gehemmt, nach hinten, überholt, rückständig, unterentwickelt, rückwärts, zurückgewandt, zögerlichGerman
- οπισθοδρομικός, παλιομοδίτικος, πίσω, ανάποδος, υπανάπτυκτοςGreek
- atrasado, rezagado, retrógrado, anticuado, pasado de modaSpanish
- takapajuinen, saamaton, vanhanaikainen, takaperin, taaksepäin, alikehittynyt, syrjäänvetäytyvä, taantumuksellinen, takaperoinen, päinvastainen, peruuttaaFinnish
- en arrière, arriéré, sous-développéFrench
- mundur ke belakangIndonesian
- 後方, 後ろJapanese
- دواکهوتوKurdish
- whakamuriMāori
- achteruitDutch
- archaiczny, do tyłu, tył, przestarzały, z powrotemPolish
- atrasado, retrógradoPortuguese
- înapoi, către spate, spre-napoi, îndărăt, regresivRomanian
- назад, обратно, обратный, отсталый, заднийRussian
- bakom, bakåt, baklänges, bakåtsträvandeSwedish
- patalikodTagalog
- geriyeTurkish
- پسماندہUrdu
- 落後Chinese
Get even more translations for backward »
Translation
Find a translation for the backward synonym in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add these synonyms to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"backward." Synonyms.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 9 Jun 2024. <https://www.synonyms.com/synonym/backward>.
Discuss these backward synonyms with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In