backsliding
backsliding is the present participle and gerund 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)
- 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
- 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.
Adjective
backsliding (comparative more backsliding, superlative most backsliding)
Noun
backsliding (plural backslidings)
- An occasion on which one backslides, especially in a moral sense.
- democratic backsliding
- If their actions are bad, look back and inquire into the cause of their backslidings.1851, Harvey Newcomb, A Practical Directory for Young Christian Females
Forms of backsliding
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more backsliding |
| superlative | most backsliding |
| Noun | |
| plural | backslidings |
Phrases with backsliding
Words that rhyme with backsliding
- riding
- confiding
- abiding
- biding
- gliding
- guiding
- hiding
- paragliding
- sliding
- striding
- bestriding
- betiding
31 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- blindsiding
- briding
- broadsiding
- chiding
- coinciding
- colliding
- coresiding
- deciding
- deriding
- disciding
- dividing
- eliding
- griding
- hagriding
- joyriding
- misguiding
- niding
- nondividing
- outriding
- overriding
- overstriding
- peroxiding
- presiding
- priding
- providing
- redeciding
- redividing
- residing
- siding
- subsiding
- suiciding
Questions about backsliding
- What does backsliding mean?
- Backsliding means sliding back.
- What is backsliding the present participle and gerund of?
- Backsliding is the present participle and gerund of backslide.
- What part of speech is backsliding?
- Backsliding can be an adjective or a noun.
Words near backsliding in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backsliding (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “backsliding.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backsliding. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.