backwards

/ˈbæk.wə(ɹ)dz/
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Word Statistics

Difficulty LevelAdvanced

Academic vocabulary

Word FrequencyCommon

Regularly used in writing and speech

Syllables2

Moderate complexity

Analysis:

  • Academic vocabulary
adjective

1. Oriented toward the back.

"The battleship had three backwards guns at the stern, in addition to the primary complement."

2. Reversed.

"The backwards lettering on emergency vehicles makes it possible to read in the rear-view mirror."

3. Behind current trends or technology.

"Modern medicine regards the use of leeches as a backwards practice."

4. Clumsy, inept, or inefficient, especially in learning.

"He was a very backwards scholar, but he was a marvel on the football field."

Synonyms

backwards

/ˈbæk.wə(ɹ)dz/
🟣 Advanced

Word Statistics

Difficulty LevelAdvanced

Academic vocabulary

Word FrequencyCommon

Regularly used in writing and speech

Syllables2

Moderate complexity

Analysis:

  • Academic vocabulary
adverb

1. Toward the back.

"Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.—Søren Kierkegaard"

2. In the opposite direction to usual.

"The clock did not work because the battery was inserted backwards."

3. In a manner such that the back precedes the front.

"The tour guide walked backwards while droning on to the bored seniors."

4. Towards the past; ago

Synonyms

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