Idiom
one step forward, two steps back
Meaning
A situation in which progress is more than offset by adverse developments.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Learning this language feels like one step forward, two steps back.”
“The project is frustrating because every time we fix a bug, we find two more; it is one step forward, two steps back.”
“Despite the team's tireless efforts to stabilize the economy, the constant political instability ensured that every recovery was merely one step forward, two steps back.”
Examples
simple
“Learning this language feels like one step forward, two steps back.”
contextual
“The project is frustrating because every time we fix a bug, we find two more; it is one step forward, two steps back.”
complex
“Despite the team's tireless efforts to stabilize the economy, the constant political instability ensured that every recovery was merely one step forward, two steps back.”
Origin
Derived from the idiom "two steps forward, one step back," which originates with a traditional anecdote concerning a frog attempting to climb out of a well.
Key words
Related idioms
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