Backwards

Alternative forms

 * backward

Etymology
. See -s#Etymology 3:

Adjective

 * 1) Oriented toward the back.
 * The battleship had three backwards guns at the stern, in addition to the primary complement.
 * 1) Reversed.
 * The backwards lettering on emergency vehicles makes it possible to read in the rear-view mirror.
 * 1)  Behind current trends or technology.
 * Modern medicine regards the use of leeches as a backwards practice.
 * 1) Clumsy, inept, or inefficient.

Synonyms

 * mirror image, switched, back to front
 * crude, dated, obsolete, primitive
 * awkward, fumbling, incompetent, poor
 * awkward, fumbling, incompetent, poor

Adverb

 * 1) Toward the back.
 * 2) In the opposite direction of usual.
 * The clock did not work because the battery was inserted backwards.
 * 1) In a manner such that the back precedes the front.

Synonyms

 * hindwards, rearward, retrograde
 * contrariwise, reversedly
 * back to front, in reverse

Derived terms

 * backwards and forwards