Word.ws English Dictionary

backronymy

backronymy noun: the back-formation of a phrase to fit an acronym.

Noun

backronymy (uncountable)

  1. The back-formation of a phrase to fit an acronym.
    • This is made possible by the almost instantaneous demotivation of acronyms (see also Fandrych 2004: 21, 122, 132, and Ungerer 1991a and 1991b), which enables processes such as remotivation, backronymy and playfulness.2012 July, Ingrid Fandrych, “Small is beautiful: from initials to words”, in MIRANDA

Questions about backronymy

What does backronymy mean?
Backronymy means the back-formation of a phrase to fit an acronym.
What part of speech is backronymy?
Backronymy is a noun.

Words near backronymy in the dictionary

  1. backronymic
  2. backronyming
  3. backronymmed
  4. backronymming
  5. backronyms
  6. backronymy
  7. backroom
  8. backroom boy
  9. backroom boys
  10. backroom staff
  11. backrooms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: backronymy (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:

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