backslide
backslide verb: to regress; to slip backwards or revert to a previous, worse state.
Verb
backslide (third-person singular simple present backslides, present participle backsliding, simple past backslid or backslided, past participle backslidden or backslid or backslided)
- To regress; to slip backwards or revert to a previous, worse state.
- He felt better for a little while, before his condition started to backslide.
- […] Monna Brigida, who had backslided into false hair in Romola's absence, but now drew it off again and declared she would not mind being gray, if her dear child would stay with her.1893, George Eliot, “Meeting Again”, in Romola, volume III, page 233
- Synonyms:
- retrograde
- To shirk responsibility; to renege on one's obligations or commitments.
- Rich countries are backsliding on their commitment to agree to new WTO measures to help people in poor countries gain access to affordable medicines.2002 June 24, “Rich countries backsliding on WTO commitments on drug patent rules says Oxfam International”, in Oxfam America, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2007
- To revert back into a life of sin after being saved.
Noun
backslide (plural backslides)
- A backward regression; a reverting back to a worse state.
- A dance move in which the feet are alternately slid back and the heels lifted, giving the illusion of walking forwards while actually moving backwards.
- Synonyms:
- moonwalk
backslide meaning in Tamil and Malayalam
backslide in Tamil
- பின்புறம் சறுக்கு, பழைய பழியிற் சென்று விழு, அடைந்த முன்னேற்றம் வழி
backslide in Malayalam
- relapse, lapse, regress
- അപചരിക്കുക, വഴിപിഴയ്ക്കുക, പിഴയ്ക്കുക, ധർമ്മഭ്രംശം വരുക, പിൻമാറുക, പൂർവ്വസ്ഥിതിയിലേക്ക് അധഃപതനം സംഭവിക്കുക
Synonyms of backslide
Forms of backslide
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | backslides |
| present participle | backsliding |
| past | backslid |
| past | backslided |
| past participle | backslidden |
| past participle | backslid |
| past participle | backslided |
| Noun | |
| plural | backslides |
Origin of backslide
From back + slide.
Words formed from backslide
Questions about backslide
- What does backslide mean?
- Backslide means to regress; to slip backwards or revert to a previous, worse state.
- What is backslide in Tamil?
- Backslide in Tamil is பின்புறம் சறுக்கு, பழைய பழியிற் சென்று விழு, அடைந்த முன்னேற்றம் வழி. See Backslide meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is backslide?
- Backslide can be a verb or a noun.
- What is the past tense of backslide?
- The past tense of backslide is backslid.
Words near backslide in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backslide (page history and authors); backslide (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); backslide (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). 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: “backslide.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backslide. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.