heavy backlash
- noun
:
fuerte reacción
- Mr. Storey later apologized and resigned his post with the club after his remarks sparked a heavy backlash.
Examples
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The politician's speech about immigration policy sparked a heavy backlash among constituents who felt unheard.
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After the company's controversial decision to raise prices, they faced a heavy backlash from customers.
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Following the new law's introduction, the government experienced heavy backlash from activists opposing the changes.
Synonyms
141
5.8
Strong opposition to social or political change that defends older ideas
106
4.8
A strong negative public reaction to an action or change
1
6.5
Strong public criticism of a person or action
1
3.3
A sudden large amount of criticism aimed at someone or something
A very strong angry reaction by many people against someone or something
A strong negative public reaction that follows an action or policy
How Intense
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents are literal: 'backlash' means a strong negative reaction and 'heavy' means large or intense, so 'heavy backlash' simply denotes a very strong/widespread negative reaction. This adjective+noun intensification is a straightforward compositional pattern (common across languages), so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily derive the meaning.
Etymology
Heavy backlash paints a simple picture: imagine you push on something and it suddenly pushes back with great force. That image of a strong 'push back' helps explain why the phrase means a strong negative 'reaction' or 'criticism' from people.