1. (adv.) Alt. of Backwards.

2. (a.) Directed to the back or rear; as, backward glances.

3. (a.) Unwilling; averse; reluctant; hesitating; loath.

4. (a.) Not well advanced in learning; not quick of apprehension; dull; inapt; as, a backward child.

5. (a.) Late or behindhand; as, a backward season.

6. (a.) Not advanced in civilization; undeveloped; as, the country or region is in a backward state.

7. (a.) Already past or gone; bygone.

8. (n.) The state behind or past.

9. (v. i.) To keep back; to hinder.

Micawberish Olympian a priori a rebours a reculons about afraid aft after after time aftermost again against the grain ago aloof anticlockwise apathetic arear around arrested arsy-varsy ascending ass over elbows ass-backwards astern averse away axial babbling back back when back-flowing back-to-front backwards balking balky bashful behind behind the times behind time behindhand belated belatedly benighted bigoted blank blind blithering blocked bottom side up bottom up burbling capsized chary checked chiastic chilled chilly coarse cold conservative constrained contrarily contrariwise conversely cool counter counterclockwise coy crackbrained cracked crazy cretinistic cretinous crude dallying deep into delayed delayed-action delaying demure descending detached detained die-hard diffident dilatory dillydallying dim dim-witted discreet distant dithering down-trending downward drifting driveling drooling dull dumb early easygoing embryonic everted ex post facto expressionless far on feebleminded flowing fluent flying fogyish foot-dragging forbidding frigid fro frosty going gone by grudging guarded gyrational gyratory half-baked half-witted head over heels heels over head held up hesitant hidebound hind hinder hindermost hindhand hindmost hindward hindwards hung up hyperbatic icy idiotic ignorant imbecile imbecilic impassive impeded impersonal in a bind in abeyance in embryo in ovo in reverse in the rough inaccessible indifferent indisposed inside out into the past introverted invaginated inversed inversely inverted jammed lackadaisical laggard lagging late latish lax lazy lingering loath loitering maundering medieval mentally defective mentally deficient mentally handicapped mentally retarded modest mongoloid moratory moronic mounting narrow never on time none too soon nonprogressive not all there obstructed obtuse offish old-fashioned old-fogyish old-line opposed to change outside in over overdue oversimple palindromic passing perfunctory plunging poor posterior posteriorly postern preservative procrastinating procrastinative procrastinatory progressive quiet reactionary rear rearmost rearward rearwards reductionistic reductive reflex reflowing refluent regressive reluctant reminiscently remiss remote removed renitent repressed reserved restive restrained resupinate retarded reticent retiring retrad retral retroactive retroactively retrograde retrogressive retrospective retrospectively retroverted reverse reversed right-wing rising rotary