Word.ws English Dictionary

backward compatible

/ˌbækwɚdkəmˈpætəb(ə)l/

backward compatible adjective: capable of interoperating with older systems.

Adjective

backward compatible (comparative more backward compatible, superlative most backward compatible)

  1. Capable of interoperating with older systems.
    • The new editor is backward compatible with all versions later than 1.17.

Antonyms of backward compatible

Forms of backward compatible

comparativemore backward compatible
superlativemost backward compatible
alternative formbackward-compatible
alternative formbackwards compatible
alternative formbackwards-compatible

Origin of backward compatible

Back-formation from backward compatibility.

Questions about backward compatible

What does backward compatible mean?
Backward compatible means capable of interoperating with older systems.
What part of speech is backward compatible?
Backward compatible is an adjective.
How do you pronounce backward compatible?
Backward compatible is pronounced /ˌbækwɚdkəmˈpætəb(ə)l/ (US).

Words near backward compatible in the dictionary

  1. backwalls
  2. backward
  3. backward and forward
  4. backward compatibilities
  5. backward compatibility
  6. backward compatible
  7. backward compliment
  8. backward compliments
  9. backward design
  10. backward dive
  11. backward dives

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: backward compatible (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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