Antonyms of adj backward

4 senses of backward

Sense 1
backward (vs. forward) -- (directed or facing toward the back or rear; "a backward view")

forward (vs. backward) -- (at or near or directed toward the front; "the forward section of the aircraft"; "a forward plunge down the stairs"; "forward motion")
        => guardant (postnominal), gardant (postnominal), full-face -- (looking forward)
        => headfirst, headlong -- (with the head foremost; "a headfirst plunge down the stairs"; "a headlong dive into the pool")

Sense 2
backward (vs. forward) -- ((used of temperament or behavior) marked by a retiring nature; "a backward lover")

forward (vs. backward) -- (used of temperament or behavior; lacking restraint or modesty; "a forward child badly in need of discipline")
        => brash, cheeky, nervy -- (offensively bold; "a brash newcomer disputed the age-old rules for admission to the club"; "a nervy thing to say")
        => bumptious, self-assertive -- (offensively self-assertive)
        => overfamiliar -- (taking undue liberties; "young women disliked the overfamiliar tone he took with them")
        => fresh, impertinent, impudent, overbold, smart, saucy, sassy, wise -- (improperly forward or bold; "don't be fresh with me"; "impertinent of a child to lecture a grownup"; "an impudent boy given to insulting strangers"; "Don't get wise with me!")
        => assumptive, assuming, presumptuous -- (excessively forward; "an assumptive person"; "on a subject like this it would be too assuming for me to decide"; "the duchess would not put up with presumptuous servants")

Sense 3
backward, half-witted, slow-witted, feebleminded -- (retarded in intellectual development)

INDIRECT (VIA retarded) -> precocious -- (characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude); "a precocious child"; "a precocious achievement")

Sense 4
backward -- (having made less than normal progress; "an economically backward country")

INDIRECT (VIA undynamic) -> dynamic, dynamical -- (characterized by action or forcefulness or force of personality; "a dynamic market"; "a dynamic speaker"; "the dynamic president of the firm")

Similarity of adj backward

4 senses of backward

Sense 1
backward (vs. forward) -- (directed or facing toward the back or rear; "a backward view")
       => backswept, sweptback -- (used of hair)
       => cacuminal, retroflex -- (pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned back toward the hard palate)
       => converse, reversed, transposed -- (turned about in order or relation; "transposed letters")
       => inverse, reverse -- (reversed (turned backward) in order or nature or effect)
       => rearward, reverse -- (directed or moving toward the rear; "a rearward glance"; "a rearward movement")
       => receding (prenominal) -- ((of a hairline e.g.) moving slowly back)
       => reflexive, self-referent -- (referring back to itself)
       => regardant (postnominal) -- (looking backward)
       => retracted -- (drawn back and in; "a cat with retracted claws")
       => retral, retrograde -- (moving or directed or tending in a backward direction or contrary to a previous direction)
       => retroflex, retroflexed -- (bent or curved backward)
       => returning (prenominal), reversive -- (tending to be turned back)
          Also See-> regressive#2; retrospective#1

Sense 2
backward (vs. forward) -- ((used of temperament or behavior) marked by a retiring nature; "a backward lover")
       => bashful, blate -- (disposed to avoid notice; "they considered themselves a tough outfit and weren't bashful about letting anybody know it"; (`blate' is a Scottish term for bashful))
          Also See-> timid#1

Sense 3
backward, half-witted, slow-witted, feebleminded -- (retarded in intellectual development)
       => retarded (vs. precocious) -- (relatively slow in mental or emotional or physical development; "providing a secure and sometimes happy life for the retarded")

Sense 4
backward -- (having made less than normal progress; "an economically backward country")
       => undynamic (vs. dynamic), adynamic -- (characterized by an absence of force or forcefulness)

Antonyms of adv backward

2 of 3 senses of backward

Sense 1
back, backward, backwards, rearward, rearwards -- (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")
       Antonym of forward (Sense 1)
      => forward, forwards, frontward, frontwards, forrad, forrard -- (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))

Sense 3
back, 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")
       Antonym of forward (Sense 3)
      => 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")

Synonyms of adv backward

3 senses of backward

Sense 1
back, backward, backwards, rearward, rearwards -- (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")

Sense 2
backward, backwards -- (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")

Sense 3
back, 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")