Meaning

3 senses
  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.

    rückläufig werden

  2. (transitive)To shirk responsibility; to renege on one's obligations or commitments.

  3. To revert back into a life of sin after being saved.

More definitions
  • drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards

Examples

4 sentences
  1. These people will make us backslide.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · AmarMecheri · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  2. We've come this far, so we can't stop now. I don't want to backslide.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · thomsmells · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  3. The backsliding has begun.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CM · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. Lawmakers from elsewhere in the nation have also criticized the proposed move, saying it represents a backsliding of democratic progress.

    CC0 · Tatoeba · Cangarejo · C2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

5 languages
Deutsch
By meaning 1
to revert to a previous, worse state:

Origin

From back + slide.

From back + slide.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

backslides, backsliding, backslid, backslidden
Base formbackslide · to backslide
3rd person singularbackslides
Present participlebacksliding
Past simplebackslid / backslided
Past participlebackslidden / backslid / backslided

irregular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theybackslide
he, she, itbackslides

Past simpleLesson

all personsbackslid

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave backslidden
he, she, ithas backslidden

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill backslide

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards:lapse

Word family

2 related words
Relatedbackslider

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
backslide — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto