Backwards vs Setback - What's the difference?
backwards | setback |
Oriented toward the back.
Reversed.
(derogatory) Behind current trends or technology.
Clumsy, inept, or inefficient.
Toward the back.
In the opposite direction to usual.
In a manner such that the back precedes the front.
An obstacle, delay, or disadvantage.
(US) The required distance between a structure and a road.
(architecture) A step-like recession in a wall.
(possibly archaic) A backset; a countercurrent; an eddy.
A backset; a check; a repulse; a relapse.
As an adjective backwards
is oriented toward the back.As an adverb backwards
is toward the back.As a noun setback is
an obstacle, delay, or disadvantage.backwards
English
Alternative forms
* backwardAdjective
(en adjective)- The battleship had three backwards guns at the stern, in addition to the primary complement .
- The backwards lettering on emergency vehicles makes it possible to read in the rear-view mirror.
- Modern medicine regards the use of leeches as a backwards practice.
- He was a very backwards scholar, but he was a marvel on the football field.
Usage notes
* In senses 3 and 4, and often in American English, backward is preferred.Synonyms
* (oriented toward the back) * (reversed) mirror image, switched, back to front * (behind current trends or technology) crude, dated, obsolete, primitive * awkward, fumbling, incompetent, poorAdverb
(en adverb)- The cabinet toppled over backwards .
- Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards . —Søren Kierkegaard
- The clock did not work because the battery was inserted backwards .
- The tour guide walked backwards while droning on to the bored seniors.
Usage notes
* In written American English, backward is more common. * Strictly speaking, backwards'' is an adverb and ''backward is an adjective in British English; in American English, the rule may be reversed. This follows the same usage for similar words ending in -ward/-wards and -way/-ways. See also -wise. *: It was a backward move'' vs ''He moved backwards * Also, even though an adverb may be used in adjectival combinations (eg a quickly moving car ), only the -ward forms are commonly used in adjectival combinations, e.g.: *: A backward-facing statue. / A backward facing statue.Synonyms
* (toward the back) hindwards, rearward, retrograde * (in the opposite direction of usual) contrariwise, reversedly * (so that the back precedes the front) back to front, in reverseDerived terms
* backwards and forwardsAnagrams
*setback
English
Noun
(en noun)- After some initial setbacks , the expedition went safely on its way.
- Setbacks were initially used for structural reasons, but now are often mandated by land use codes.