Antonyms for backwardsback·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 antonyms: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

How to use backwards in a sentence?

1. Clifford V. Villalon:

   People always want to move forward even when they are just sitting. They lean forward, look sideways, look backwards and even stand up to see what is ahead of them. Realizing they are actually facing a mirror in front of them.

2. Pedro Anderson:

   Anybody who has traveled today knows that it's not the most pleasant experience. The entire process is backwards, we have been doing experiments and new solutions on the platform. Ultimately, that benefits the consumer. When there's innovation, you start to have disruption, you have competition which results in better prices for the consumer.

3. Joanna Teplin:

   You need to think about what needs to live in the mudroom — for each person in your household, what do they actually need to get in and out of the door in the morning, or at the end of the day, that’s going to make the space function for you all? and then you can work backwards and figure out, ‘Okay, how do I want to contain this in the smartest way?’.

4. Jordan Peele:

   I used to go to the movie theater and watch horror movies and you know black people, we yell s --- at the screen, i ’d go watch like a Freddy movie and you ’d hear people saying s --- like, ‘ Oh, b ----, get out of the house ’ or ‘ No. no, no -- don’t walk backwards ! ’ or ‘ You’re white -- call the cops ! ’ I got it in my head that there was a missing piece of the conversation. There was a film that we were asking for, begging for that was n’t there for us.

5. Elijah Cummings:

   House Judiciary Committee is bending over backwards to act in good faith, but White House has refused to produce a single piece of paper or a single witness to date, white House also withheld from House Judiciary Committee the policies that were in place during the first year and a half of the Trump Administration-which even General John Kelly admitted was plagued with problems.

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