backlash

noun

back·​lash ˈbak-ˌlash 

1

a

: a sudden violent backward movement or reaction

b

: the play between adjacent movable parts (as in a series of gears)

also : the jar caused by this when the parts are put into action

2

: a snarl in that part of a fishing line wound on the reel

3

: a strong adverse reaction (as to a recent political or social development)

backlasher noun

Examples of backlash in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But that shout out came at a cost because the replies to each post came with significant backlash. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Axios reported that executives at OpenAI and Anthropic had privately begun gaming out scenarios for handling the political and public backlash if AI causes some kind of catastrophic incident. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026

Floated earlier this year, a separate bid to have political appointees, rather than peer review panels, decide grant recipients garnered significant backlash—and was put on hold until at least December after Congress rejected the change. — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2026

Mentions of data centers have, predictably, shot up across all three networks in recent months as political backlash against AI swells and the data centers themselves have become a salient issue ahead of the midterms. — J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1815, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing backlash

• anti-backlash

Rhymes for backlash

• chumash
• eyelash
• moustache
• mustache
• noncash
• potash
• rehash
• whiplash
• ash
• bash
• brash
• cache

Kids Definition

backlash

noun

back·​lash ˈbak-ˌlash 

: a reaction against some political or social development