backward
adjective/ˈbækwəd/
/ˈbækwərd/
- [only before noun] directed or moving towards the back
- She strode past him without a backward glance.
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- moving in a direction that means that no progress is being made synonym retrograde
- She felt that going back to live in her home town would be a backward step.
- (often offensive) having made less progress than normal; developing slowly
- a backward part of the country, with no paved roads and no electricity
- (British English, informal) She's not backward in coming forward (= she's not shy).
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- seem
- extremely
- fairly
- very
- …
- (old-fashioned, offensive) (of a child) slow to learn; finding it difficult to make progress in learning This use is considered offensive. You can say that the person has a learning disability or is learning disabled instead. compare forward
Word OriginMiddle English: from earlier abackward, from aback.
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backward