Word.ws English Dictionary

ass-backwards

ass-backwards adjective: oriented backwards, particularly after a mishap.

Adjective

ass-backwards (comparative more ass-backwards, superlative most ass-backwards)

  1. (colloquial) Oriented backwards, particularly after a mishap.
    • The car spun out of control and I ended up ass-backwards in a ditch.
  2. (colloquial, idiomatic) Hopelessly misguided; contrary to what is normal, expected, or logical; having taken the utterly wrong choice.
    • No wonder it doesn't work. The whole design is ass-backwards.

Adverb

ass-backwards (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) Moving backwards, that is, rear end first.
  2. (colloquial, idiomatic) In a hopelessly misguided manner; in a manner contrary to what is normal, expected, or logical.
    • They did the whole design ass-backwards. No wonder it doesn't work.

Forms of ass-backwards

comparativemore ass-backwards
superlativemost ass-backwards
alternative formass backwards
alternative formass-backward
alternative formass backward
alternative formback-asswards
alternative formbackasswards
alternative formbass-ackwards
alternative formbassackwards

Origin of ass-backwards

Recorded in the US in the 1930s. From ass + backwards

Questions about ass-backwards

What does ass-backwards mean?
Ass-backwards means oriented backwards, particularly after a mishap.
What part of speech is ass-backwards?
Ass-backwards can be an adjective or an adverb.

Words near ass-backwards in the dictionary

  1. ass'n.
  2. ass'ns
  3. ass's-ear abalone
  4. Ass't
  5. ass-backward
  6. ass-backwards
  7. ass-beating
  8. ass-blast
  9. ass-blasted
  10. ass-blasting
  11. ass-blasts

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ass-backwards (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-ass-backwards.ogg.

Cite this entry: “ass-backwards.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ass-backwards. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.