backronym
/ˈbæk.ɹəˌnɪm/
backronym noun: a word that is originally not an acronym but is turned into one by devising a full form for it, sometimes as a folk etymology, sometimes as a contrived acronym to name a new organization, proposal, or other entity.
Noun
backronym (plural backronyms)
- A word that is originally not an acronym but is turned into one by devising a full form for it, sometimes as a folk etymology, sometimes as a contrived acronym to name a new organization, proposal, or other entity.
- [T]he phenomenon has been dubbed STEVE, a backronym that matches the name originally given by aurora watchers. (STEVE is short for "Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.")2018 March 14, Sarah Lewin, “Meet ‘Steve,’ the Aurora-Like Mystery Scientists Are Beginning to Unravel”, in space.com, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2019, retrieved 17 Mar 2018
- These reverse-engineered acronyms, or “backronyms,” are inescapable on Capitol Hill. Two of the biggest laws of the past few years were the CARES Act, for pandemic relief, and the CHIPS for America Act, for semiconductor manufacturing. […] Yet congressional backronyms have been on the rise for...2022 November 12, Matteo Wong, “How Did America End Up With the Z.O.M.B.I.E. Act?”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 12 Nov 2022
- A phrase which assigns a morpheme or word to each letter of a pre-existing acronym.
Verb
backronym (third-person singular simple present backronyms, present participle backronyming or (rare) backronymming, simple past and past participle backronymed or (rare) backronymmed)
- To create a backronym.
backronym meaning in Tamil and Indonesian
backronym in Tamil
- கற்பனையான சொற்றொடர்
backronym in Indonesian
- word that is originally not an acronym but is turned into one by devising a full form for it
- keratabasa
Examples of backronym in a sentence
- These reverse-engineered acronyms, or “backronyms,” are inescapable on Capitol Hill.2022 November 12, Matteo Wong, “How Did America End Up With the Z.O.M.B.I.E. Act?”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 12 Nov...
- In a recent post, he shared a meme including Pepe the frog and a caption featuring the word "fren" — an apparent misspelling of the word "friend" — a backronym for "far right ethno nationalist."2023 May 27, Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert, “Elon Musk pulled Twitter from the EU's anti-disinformation agreement and continues to troll...
Forms of backronym
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | backronyms |
| alternative form | bacronym |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | backronyms |
| present participle | backronyming |
| past participle | backronymed |
| past | backronymed |
| present participle (rare) | backronymming |
| past participle (rare) | backronymmed |
| past (rare) | backronymmed |
Origin of backronym
Blend of back + acronym.
Words formed from backronym
Words that rhyme with backronym
Questions about backronym
- What does backronym mean?
- Backronym means a word that is originally not an acronym but is turned into one by devising a full form for it, sometimes as a folk etymology, sometimes as a contrived acronym to name a new organization, proposal, or other entity.
- What is backronym in Tamil?
- Backronym in Tamil is கற்பனையான சொற்றொடர். See Backronym meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use backronym in a sentence?
- These reverse-engineered acronyms, or “backronyms,” are inescapable on Capitol Hill.
- What part of speech is backronym?
- Backronym can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce backronym?
- Backronym is pronounced /ˈbæk.ɹəˌnɪm/.
- What is the plural of backronym?
- The plural of backronym is backronyms.
Words near backronym in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backronym (page history and authors); backronym (Tamil Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-backronym.wav.
Cite this entry: “backronym.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backronym. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.