Obsolete vs Backwards - What's the difference?
obsolete | backwards | Synonyms |
No longer in use; gone into disuse; disused or neglected (often by preference for something newer, which replaces the subject).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (biology) Imperfectly developed; not very distinct.
(US)
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.
Backwards is a synonym of obsolete.
As adjectives the difference between obsolete and backwards
is that obsolete is no longer in use; gone into disuse; disused or neglected (often by preference for something newer, which replaces the subject) while backwards is oriented toward the back.As a verb obsolete
is to cause to become obsolete.As an adverb backwards is
toward the back.obsolete
English
Adjective
(en adjective)The attack of the MOOCs, passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete .}}
Usage notes
* Nouns to which "obsolete" is often applied: word, phrase, equipment, computer, technology, weapon, machine, law, statute, currency, building, idea, skill, concept, custom, theory, tradition, institution.Synonyms
* (no longer in use) ancient, antiquated, antique, archaic, disused, neglected, old, old-fashioned, out of date * abortive, obscure, rudimentalDerived terms
* obsoletenessVerb
(obsolet)Oxford DictionaryTo cause to become obsolete.
- This software component has been obsoleted .
- We are in the process of obsoleting this product.
Usage notes
* (term) is often used in computing and other technical fields to indicate an effort to remove or replace something. * CompareReferences
External links
* * * ----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.