| Adj. | 1. | backward - directed or facing toward the back or rear; "a backward view"retrospective - concerned with or related to the past; "retrospective self-justification" forward - at or near or directed toward the front; "the forward section of the aircraft"; "a forward plunge down the stairs"; "forward motion" | |
| 2. | backward - (used of temperament or behavior) marked by a retiring nature; "a backward lover"timid - showing fear and lack of confidence forward - used of temperament or behavior; lacking restraint or modesty; "a forward child badly in need of discipline" | |
| 3. | backward - retarded in intellectual developmentretarded - relatively slow in mental or emotional or physical development; "providing a secure and sometimes happy life for the retarded" | |
| Adv. | 1. | backward - at or to or toward the back or rear; "he moved back"; "tripped when he stepped backward"; "she looked rearward out the window of the car"forrad, forrard, forward, forwards, frontward, frontwards - at or to or toward the front; "he faced forward"; "step forward"; "she practiced sewing backward as well as frontward on her new sewing machine"; (`forrad' and `forrard' are dialectal variations) | |
| 2. | backward - in a manner or order or direction the reverse of normal; "it's easy to get the `i' and the `e' backward in words like `seize' and `siege'"; "the child put her jersey on backward" | |
| 3. | backward - in or to or toward a past time; "set the clocks back an hour"; "never look back"; "lovers of the past looking fondly backward"ahead, forward - toward the future; forward in time; "I like to look ahead in imagination to what the future may bring"; "I look forward to seeing you" | |