- [only before noun] directed or moving towards the front
- The door opened, blocking his forward movement.
- a forward pass (= in a sports game)
- [only before noun] (specialist) located in front, especially on a ship, plane or other vehicle
- the forward cabins
- A bolt may have fallen off the plane's forward door.
- relating to the future
- the forward movement of history
- A little forward planning at the outset can save you a lot of expense.
- The plans are still no further forward than they were last month.
- behaving towards somebody in a manner that is too confident or too informal
- I hope you don't think I'm being too forward.
compare backward
Word OriginOld English forweard (in the sense ‘towards the future’, as in from this day forward), variant of forthweard (see forth, -ward).
Check pronunciation:
forward