backward
8
3.8
- adjective
- /ˈbæk.wɚd/
:
tímido
- At the party, she was quite backward, preferring to stand quietly in the corner rather than mingle with others.
And, and unabashedly don't be backwards about going forwards or what does that mean?
- And, and unabashedly don't be backwards about going forwards or what does that mean?
- But as we argued as to who should tell his or her name, she became very close and she said you seem to be a backward person.
Examples
-
Don't be so backward.
-
They've pounded into my head I'm backward for my age... ...but I know what all this means.
-
We're backward in the art of conversation.
-
It's a little backward, don't you think?
-
Well, I've seen backward kids.
-
I was the backward boy in a family of polyglots, as I told him.
Fiction book (1995) -
After all, some babies are more backward than others, but they can outgrow it.
-
You know, it burns me up to see folks with such backward attitudes toward foxes.
-
Ciardi was not prepared to work on elementary matters that we, the backward freshmen, needed.
Academic text (1995) -
It isn't that he's backward, Miss Dove.
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
How Shy
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Backward is from back and -ward, literally 'toward the back', and so a 'backward' person is seen as moving away from being 'forward' or bold. That's why the word can describe someone who is shy or reluctant.