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back-to-back 1 of 2

adjective

ˈbak-tə-ˈbak How to pronounce back-to-back (audio)
Definition of back-to-backnext
as in consecutive
following one after another without others coming in between the new governor was soon facing several back-to-back crises

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

back-to-back

2 of 2

adverb

ˈbak-tə-ˈbak How to pronounce back-to-back (audio)
as in together
in succession without others coming in between the three movies in the series were filmed back-to-back so that the cast members wouldn't age visibly on screen

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of back-to-back
Adjective
Ty Pennington threw incomplete passes to Myseth Currie on fourth-and-short from the 5 to end back-to-back drives before Byrant Meredith broke up a pass intended for Joey Stout on fourth-and-16 with 33 seconds left. — ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026 Tess Kala, a South Point resident who grew up in the area, said the back-to-back storms are a shock to locals. — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 26 Sep. 2026 The rout marked the first time the Bruins have scored 50 during back-to-back games since 1993. — A.j. Perez, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026 The retired running back won back-to-back Super Bowls with two different teams — first with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020, then with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021. — Emily Weaver, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2026 Central Michigan has won back-to-back games against Colgate and Wyoming after losing to New Mexico to start the season. — Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 24 Sep. 2026 The Nasdaq Composite is down more than 1% on Wednesday morning, following back-to-back record high closes for the tech-heavy index. — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 23 Sep. 2026 His father Bryan, who teaches at Wheeler, is a former soccer coach at the school and led the girls team to back-to-back Class 1A state runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2018. — Michael Osipoff, Chicago Tribune, 23 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for back-to-back
  1. consecutive
  2. together
  3. successive
  4. successively
  5. consecutively
  6. repeatedly
Adjective
  • The Panthers have gone from regularly being among the bottom of the league to annual Stanley Cup contenders, including making three consecutive trips to the Cup Final from 2023-25 and winning it all the final two years of that run.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Remain is Shyamalan’s second consecutive film for Warners after 2024’s Trap which made $84 million at the box office off a $30 million budget and became something of a memeable pop culture phenomenon.
    — Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of consecutive
Adverb
  • Back in 2009, this was a task that quite literally took a village of 30 people — including me — working together to interpret the whole genome sequence of a colleague, friend, and fellow scientist named Stephen Quake.
    — Euan Ashley, STAT, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The mark appears to have been made using a multiplicity of short horizontal strokes, blurred and blended together.
    — Barry Schwabsky, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of together
Adjective
  • Yet three successive Democratic presidential campaigns willfully ignored these flashing sirens, instead insisting that Green New Deals and diversity, equity and inclusion programs would appeal to working-class Latino men.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Kao is widely regarded within Indian intelligence circles as a formative figure in the country’s espionage apparatus, with successive R&AW chiefs having credited his strategic approach.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of successive
Adverb
  • Their concentrations then increase at successively higher trophic levels (levels of the food chain) as organisms consume contaminated prey.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Samsung has successively shaved a few millimeters off every year, taking a leap last year with the Z Fold 7.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of successively
Adverb
  • Shea ordered a portion of Baker’s federal sentence to be served consecutively to his state sentences, giving him a total effective federal sentence of approximately 222 months in prison.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 18 Sep. 2026
  • On Friday, the one question remaining in a Bronx courtroom was whether the new sentence would run concurrently or consecutively.
    — Rebecca White, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of consecutively
Adverb
  • Russia has repeatedly hit Ukrainian trains, shopping malls, supermarkets and gas stations, among other sites, keeping civilians on edge.
    — HANNA ARHIROVA, Arkansas Online, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Guests have reported footsteps in the attic, the feeling of someone stroking their face, a shower rode repeatedly flying off the wall and loud noises from outside the front door when no one is there.
    — Kaitlyn Keegan, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of repeatedly

Browse Nearby Words

back talk
back-to-back
backtrack
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Cite this Entry

“Back-to-back.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/back-to-back. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

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