backwardadjective
uk/ˈbæk.wəd/us/ˈbæk.wɚd/backward adjective (NOT INTELLIGENT/MODERN)
C2 not advanced:
When he was a child, his teachers thought he was backward (= unable to learn as much as most children).
People still think of it as a backward country/region/area (= one without industry or modern machines).
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Crude and basic
- 101
- at bottom idiom
- bare
- basic
- bottom
- crude
- elementary
- low-tech
- Mickey Mouse
- primal
- primordial
- rough
- rough and ready idiom
- rude
- simple
- skeletal
- stone-age
- two-dimensional
- vanilla
See more results »
backward adjective (OPPOSITE DIRECTION)
towards the direction that is the opposite to the one in which you are facing:
She left without a backward glance.
He did a fantastic backward somersault.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Backwards, sideways and back and forth
- anticlockwise
- aside
- back
- back and forth idiom
- backwards
- broadside
- counterclockwise
- crabwise
- hither and thither idiom
- retro
- right/wrong way round idiom
- side
- sideways
- stand
- stand back
- there
- there and back idiom
- to and fro
- to-ing and fro-ing
- wrong
See more results »
backwardness
noun [ U ] uk/ˈbæk.wəd.nəs/us/ˈbæk.wɚd.nəs/
They were accused of backwardness (= very old-fashioned ways) because they had no washing machine.
Idiom(s)
be backward in coming forward
without (so much as) a backward glance
backwardadverb
uk/ˈbæk.wəd/us/ˈbæk.wɚd/mainly US→ backwards
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Backwards, sideways and back and forth
- anticlockwise
- aside
- back
- back and forth idiom
- backwards
- broadside
- counterclockwise
- crabwise
- hither and thither idiom
- retro
- right/wrong way round idiom
- side
- sideways
- stand
- stand back
- there
- there and back idiom
- to and fro
- to-ing and fro-ing
- wrong
See more results »