adjective

1. Oriented toward the back.

   “The battleship had three backwards guns at the stern, in addition to the primary complement.”

2. Reversed.

   “The backwards lettering on emergency vehicles makes it possible to read in the rear-view mirror.”

3. Behind current trends or technology.

   “Modern medicine regards the use of leeches as a backwards practice.”

Synonyms: crude, dated, obsolete, primitive, awkward, fumbling, incompetent, poor