backwards — OET

backwards (also backward)

adverb

1 Penny glanced backwards | he took a step backwards:

towards the rear, rearwards, backward, behind one.

▷antonyms forwards.

2 count backwards from twenty to ten:

in reverse, from the highest to lowest, in reverse order.

3 his campaign is going backwards:

deteriorate, decline, degenerate, worsen, get worse;

informal go downhill, take a nosedive, go to pot, go to the dogs, hit the skids, go down the toilet, go down the tubes.

▷antonyms improve.

backwards Oxford Dictionary of English