backward Hear it!

backward Definition

back·ward (-wərd)

adverb

  1. toward the back or rear; behind
  2. with the back or rear foremost
  3. in reverse to spell a word backward
  4. in a way contrary to the normal or usual way
  5. toward earlier times; into the past
  6. from a better to a worse state

Etymology: ME bakward, for abakward < abak (< OE on bæc, back) + -ward (< OE -weard, toward)

adjective

  1. turned or directed toward the rear or in the opposite way
  2. hesitant, bashful, or shy, as in meeting people
  3. late in developing or growing; retarded; slow

backward Related Forms
back′·wardly adverb back′·ward·ness noun
backward Idioms

bend over backward

☆
  1. to try to an unusual degree (to please, pacify, etc.)
  2. to attempt to compensate, as for one's own bias, tendency, etc., with an extreme effort in the opposite direction
backward Synonyms

backward

modif.

  1. To the rear

    rearward, astern, behind, aback, retro-, retrograde, regressive, reflex, retrogressive.

    Antonyms forward*, progressive*, onward. *

  2. Dull

    stupid, slow-witted, dense; see dull 3.

  3. Retiring

    bashful, reserved, shy; see humble 1.

  4. Reversed

    turned around, counterclockwise, inverted; see reversed.

  5. Behind in development

    underdeveloped, slow, slow to develop, retarded, delayed, arrested, checked, behindhand, late, undeveloped, underprivileged, unenlightened.

bend over backward*<strong>

try hard to please, conciliate, be fair; see try 1.

backward Quotes

   It is this backward motion toward the source, Against the stream, that most we see ourselves in. The tribute of the current to the source.

—Frost, Robert Lee

Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind.

—Gibbs,Wolcott

And it cameto pass, when hemade mention of thearkof God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy.

—Bible (Old Testament)

You might as well fall flat onyour face as leanover toofar backward.

—Thurber,James Grover

Contrary to popular belief, the past was not more eventful than the present. If it seems so it is because when you look backward things that happened years apart are telescoped together, and because very few of your memories come to you genuinely virgin.

—Orwell, George pseudonym of  Eric Arthur Blair