Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

Thesaurus

abaft

adverb

Synonyms and Antonyms of abaft

  1. near, toward, or in the stern of a ship or the tail of an aircraft the lookout in the crow's nest warned that there was an enemy frigate abaft and bearing down hard on their ship Synonyms aft, astern, sternward (or sternwards)Related Words after, back, backward (or backwards), behind, posteriorly, rearward (also rearwards)Near Antonyms anteriorly; ahead, beforeAntonyms fore, forward

From the M-W Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz
alt-59775cb5d7779
Words We're Watching: 'Aquafaba'
image1358596246
Words About Word Play

abaft

preposition

Synonyms and Antonyms of abaft

  1. at, to, or toward the rear of a school of porpoises swam abaft the fishing boat Synonyms behind, back ofNear Antonyms ahead ofAntonyms before

Learn More about abaft

  1. Dictionary: Definition of abaft Spanish Central: Translation of abaft Nglish: Translation of abaft for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of abaft for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up abaft? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

akimbo

play

set in a bent position

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. transgender Trump reverses military policy allowing transgender people to serve

  2. beleaguer 'Being subjected to constant or repeated trouble or harassment'

  3. scaramouch A new White House communications director

  4. non sequitur “It does not follow”

  5. admiral's mast A massive search ends with an 'admiral's mast'.

SEE ALL

BROWSE THESAURUS

abaft

Test Your Vocabulary

The Emoji Quiz

  • emoji-the-quiz
  • What phase of the moon is this: 🌖 ?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59775cb5d7779
Words We're Watching: 'Aquafaba'

Don't dump out the bean water just yet...

image1358596246
Words About Word Play

Don't just eat your words—play with them!

alt-596f95fe451e7
'Drought' & 'Drouth' Take Us Back In Time

A variant spelling with a long history

alt-59721dd897313
The 'Best' Way to Sign Off On An E-mail

Give them your best

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

emoji-the-quiz
The Emoji Quiz

Think you’re an emoji 👓 expert? Let’s see 🤔

Take the quiz
image941935269
A Game of Thrones Word Quiz

In the Game of Thrones quiz, you learn some new vocabulary. (It’s quite safe, really. You will not die.)

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game