backward
adj.adj. directed toward the back or the past. You use this to describe movement or a way of thinking that does not look forward.
adj. directed or facing toward the rear; also describes a state of development that is less advanced than others. Often used to describe physical motion or metaphorical progress.
He took a backward step to avoid the puddle.
The company's new policy felt like a backward move for workers' rights.
The historian argued that the policy was a backward attempt to revive a social order that had long since vanished from the modern world.
From Middle English bakwarde, abakward, equivalent to back (adverb) + -ward. Cognate with Old Frisian bekward (“backward”).
In British English, 'backwards' is more common as an adverb, while 'backward' is the standard form for the adjective.
a backwards stepa backward stepWhile 'backwards' is a common adverb, the adjective form used before a noun should be 'backward' without the 's'.