backward
adjective · adverb · noun
Simple meaning
Directed or facing toward the back or rear.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bakwerdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbækwɚd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Directed or facing toward the back or rear
Situated toward or at the rear of something.
Acting or moving in the direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing.
Indicating position or direction.
figuratively
Expressing lack of development or advancement.
Retarded in development; not as advanced as would be expected.
adverb
figuratively
Oppositely to the desired direction of progress, or from a better to a worse state.
In a reversed orientation; back to front.
In a reversed order or sequence.
Toward or into the past.
At, near or towards the rear of something.
In a direction opposite to that in which someone or something is facing or normally pointing.
noun
The state behind or past.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Directed or facing toward the back or rear
Used this way, backward is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- back , a specialist term, precise but narrower
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use backward
- “It's easy to get the `i' and the `e' backward in words like `seize' and `siege'”adverb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
At or to or toward the back or rear.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Moving from one place to another and back again.
Try very hard to please someone.
Look towards one's back.
The reasoning involved when you assume the conclusion is true and reason backward to the evidence.
Try very hard to please someone.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
Sense: oppositely to the desired direction of progress
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.