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?

Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use backwards in a sentence?

1. Tennessee Williams:

   The world is a funny paper read backwards. And that way it isn't so funny.

2. Hillary Clinton:

   I don’t want to see us go backwards, but organized interests fueled by ideology and huge amounts of money are trying to take us backwards. So I feel as strongly today as I ever have that we all have to stand up and defend our country, and most importantly, our democracy.

3. Brandon Mathis:

   What you don’t know is that the moment the curtain opened and it was time to perform, our turntable started spinning in reverse, backwards. Freaking all of us out on live television, and there was nothing we could do to stop it. In real time, we had to troubleshoot and try to do a complete piece in reverse. Talk about professionalism.

4. 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.

5. 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?’.