going backward

Examples

• All

• Now, it seems we've gone backward and they've moved forward.

  Academic text (2007)

• Once when I had asked a question about the genuine practice of an old tribal religious custom, one of the elders admonished me, "Remember, Father, we can't go backward!"

  Academic text (2007)

• She'd come too far, worked too hard, to go backward at this point in her life.

  Fiction book (1994)

• You don't believe you could go backward," says Gandy.

  Academic text (1999)

• Have we gone backward?

  Academic text (2011)

• I'm afraid by leaving, we are going to go backward," Avila told those in attendance, after speaking at length about his desire not to leave the board.

  Blog text (11)

• The la-place began going backward around the poteau mitan, as if he would undo time and bring us home to Guinee where we came from.

  Fiction book (1994)

• But one need not be romantically antiquarian in this matter either; to recall once more those words of yet another elder, Joe Duran, "Remember, we can't go backward; we have to move ahead"; that is, we can work to preserve our symbols and culture, but that culture is not static.

  Academic text (2007)

• After making some progress, she decided that going backward was not an option.

• In order to grow, we must avoid going backward and instead embrace change.

Synonyms

G

to go back

vsgoing backward

∞ 1.0

Return to a previous place, topic, or state

usually implies a backward shift that may be seen as loss

M

to move back

vsgoing backward

283 1.7

To step away to an earlier place

describes returning in general rather than retreat prompted by threat

T

to turn back

vsgoing backward

159 2.1

To go back to a previous place or state

can be a simple return without the deliberate change of course

R

to revert

vsgoing backward

67 4.2

To go back to a previous state or way of doing things

is often seen as a reversal of progress rather than a routine change

B

to backtrack

vsgoing backward

42 4.3

To go back along the same route you have just taken

is not limited to retracing exact steps and can be general return

R

to regress

vsgoing backward

24 7.5

To return to an earlier, less developed or worse state

focuses on returning generally rather than stressing reduced development

R

to reverse course

vsgoing backward

12 5.5

To change a decision or plan and go in a different direction

is a broader idea of returning, not only a strategic reversal

B

to backslide

vsgoing backward

2 7.5

To start doing old bad habits again after making progress

describes return without the moral relapse or after prior progress

R

to retrogress

vsgoing backward

• Formal

1 8.7

To go back to an earlier, worse state

is about returning without necessarily meaning a worse condition

Antonyms

P

progress

∞ 2.5

Forward change toward a goal or better state

A

advancement

119 4.1

Progress or growth that makes something better

How Regressive

collapse

350 4.1

to regress

24 7.5

going backward

1 3.7

to set back

37 4.2

to hold steady

17 2.9

to advance

417 3.4

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology