How to Use backward in a Sentence

backward

1 of 2 adverb

• She took a small step backward.
• I heard a noise behind me and glanced backward.
• He pushed the throttle backward.
• The narrative moves backward and forward in time.
• This can cause the stroller to tip backward.
  — ABC News, 12 May 2026
• Buehler, in essence, pitched backward.
  — Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Mar. 2026
• One day the car rolled backward down their street for a full block.
  — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
• The other group walked backward for the same amount of time.
  — Danielle Zickl, Outside, 20 Aug. 2025
• Yet by Week 6, things had gone backward.
  — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 19 Oct. 2025
• When she gets blown backward by the fan, then struts forward?
  — Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 14 Mar. 2026
• Step your right foot backward, then bring it back to center.
  — Aubrey Bailey, Verywell Health, 25 Dec. 2025
• Trump, please turn it inside out and backward.
  — Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 3 Sep. 2025
• This means Earth shifts backward, and our view changes as the years pass.
  — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 18 Jan. 2024
• What had been a robust running game took a big step backward.
  — Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2023
• His trot backward before catching a fly ball is part of it.
  — Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
• Turn all your hangers backward.
  — Alesandra Dubin, Southern Living, 17 Jan. 2026
• Woolen leaped to snag the ball but faded backward while doing so.
  — Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
• His arm appeared to bend backward in a way that it is not supposed to.
  — James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
• Lina cried out, stumbling backward.
  — Danielle Parker, CBS News, 14 Apr. 2026
• Lina cried out, stumbling backward.
  — Danielle Parker, CBS News, 21 Apr. 2026
• Then, count backward two to four weeks to find the ideal time for planting.
  — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Oct. 2025
• William placed his tribute, took a few steps backward and made a salute with his white-gloved hand.
  — Simon Perry, Peoplemag, 12 Nov. 2023
• Walk backward up the hill four to five times for 30 seconds each.
  — Danielle Zickl, Outside, 20 Aug. 2025
• Or, instead of decades, maybe we had all been shoved a dozen centuries backward.
  — Chris Richards, Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2023
• For many, this might sound like a drain on precious resources or even a step backward.
  — Leila Saad, Forbes.com, 20 Aug. 2025
• Keep back flat and hips level and take three steps forward, then three steps backward.
  — Andi Breitowich, Women's Health, 9 Mar. 2023
• With Roo, her pet for the last six years, there’s no bending over backward.
  — Tammy Lagorce, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2023
• The cadence matters—and most teams have it backward.
  — Daria Rudnik, Forbes.com, 26 May 2026
• Bruce Pearl knows his team has helped itself but doesn’t want to take a step backward.
  — Mark Heim | [email protected], al, 9 Mar. 2023
• The cloud’s electric field would push the positron backward close to where the avalanche began.
  — Quanta Magazine, 6 May 2026

backward

2 of 2 adjective

• Have a backward day with friends.
  — Parents, 11 June 2026
• The backward glance stretched wide.
  — Callum McLennan, Variety, 20 Aug. 2025
• There's no reason to go with the worm, let alone a backward one.
  — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2026
• And Tom had drawn a girl with a backward cap on a skateboard.
  — Christi Carras, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2022
• Think of it as going two steps backward to propel three steps ahead!
  — Annabel Gat, Vogue, 26 Feb. 2026
• Mickey burst up out of the water and backward.
  — David Wright Faladé, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2025
• The first was a backward pass that got ruled as a 15-yard carry.
  — Steve Megargee, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Sep. 2022
• Watt wore cuffed skinny jeans, a black T-shirt, and a backward ball cap.
  — WIRED, 17 Oct. 2023
• Stepping backward places less force and strain on the knee, which may help reduce joint stress.
  — Currie Engel, Health, 1 Apr. 2026
• Taking a backward step is not Van Hecke’s style.
  — Andy Naylor, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2025
• Panels jump forward and backward in time.
  — Literary Hub, 22 June 2026
• That goes for attempting a backward worm.
  — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 18 May 2026
• Items on backward hangers for a few months can be donated or sold.
  — Maryal Miller Carter, USA TODAY, 18 Aug. 2023
• But that idea might be exactly backward.
  — Hannah Jocelyn, New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2026
• Then, Pribula threw a backward pass that went out of bounds, for a loss of 6.
  — Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 19 Oct. 2025
• These backward glances don’t play as nostalgia.
  — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 22 June 2026
• Betts was wearing a backward championship cap with a piece of the net tucked in front.
  — CBS News, 9 Apr. 2026
• Below it, there’s a paddle to skip forward or backward through tracks.
  — Mark Knapp, PC Magazine, 7 May 2026
• Through shattered glass The killer wore a red ball cap, backward, and glasses.
  — Keith Sharon, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2023
• Researchers found that walking backward changes how muscles around the knee work.
  — Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 26 Oct. 2025
• Pat’s in the Flats was a safe haven for the backward washouts to make their mark creatively.
  — Annie Nickoloff, cleveland, 16 June 2022
• The vision looks forward, not backward.
  — Michelle Edgar, Daily News, 7 Jan. 2026
• The mosh pit at the front had become too much and everyone needed to take three steps backward.
  — Doug George, Chicago Tribune, 17 Sep. 2022
• Look for a backward question mark leaning to the left that outlines the chest and head of the lion.
  — Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 1 Feb. 2026
• All those things told me to instinctively run forward and not backward.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 3 Mar. 2022
• Then Tony falls, does a few backward flips down a cliff, and knocks himself dead on the biggest rock of all.
  — Darren Franich, EW.com, 18 Mar. 2022
• But at high tide, the creek flows upstream, as if backward, and broadens into a brackish pond.
  — Walter Nicklin, Washington Post, 13 Aug. 2022
• In all, the Chargers’ sacks pushed the Jets backward 57 yards.
  — Jeff Miller, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
• There were backward passes, deep bombs and spin moves aplenty to evade potential tag-pullers.
  — Evan Webeck, Mercury News, 16 Feb. 2026
• The new chips button appears to show up next to the forward and backward arrows at the top of the inbox.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2022