Word.ws English Dictionary

backslides

backslides is the third-person singular simple present indicative of backslide.

backslides is the plural of backslide.

Meaning of backslide

Verb

backslide (third-person singular simple present backslides, present participle backsliding, simple past backslid or backslided, past participle backslidden or backslid or backslided)

  1. (intransitive) 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.
    Synonyms:
    retrograde
  2. (transitive) 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
  3. To revert back into a life of sin after being saved.

See all 5 meanings of backslide

Questions about backslides

What is backslides the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Backslides is the third-person singular simple present indicative of backslide.

Words near backslides in the dictionary

  1. backslidden
  2. backslide
  3. backslided
  4. backslider
  5. backsliders
  6. backslides
  7. backslideth
  8. backsliding
  9. backslidings
  10. backslope
  11. backslopes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: backslides (page history and authors); backslide (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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Cite this entry: “backslides.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backslides. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.