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

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How to use backwards in a sentence?

1. Jim McCollum:

   The way President Biden has handled this, everything President Biden's done every step along the way has been absolutely backwards. And I don't understand the process of how how they came to the decision that they made. A high school kid could make better decisions than they made in this. They may have fumbled the ball every step of the way.

2. German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel:

   To give up open borders would be a gigantic step backwards in European history, with Greece, there is the risk of losing money. But now Europe is at risk of losing its decency.

3. Ben Crump:

   Today, I pray for the victims, I pray for our country, I pray for our children and grandchildren, and I pray that this travesty of a case is an outlier on our path to a more just system, and not a signal of retreat backwards, because, we simply ca n’t afford it.

4. Caroline Samponaro:

   We've spent the last couple decades trying to dig ourselves out of the mess of building our transportation systems around single occupancy vehicles, we don't want overnight for us to go backwards there.

5. Elas Massri:

   [ Those car companies ] have a clear intention to go global, in contrast to what we’re seeing in globalized countries that want to go backwards.