Meanings
adjectiveback-formed (not comparable)
- not comparableFormed by back-formation.
To coin an example from this very word [sc. backformation], we might use the phrase, «such and such a word is back-formed from etc.»
1911, Vilhelm Bladin, “X. ‘Back-formed’ denominatives”, in Studies on Denominative Verbs in English: Inaugural Dissertation, quoted in OED, page 52
verb
- participlepastsimple past and past participle of back-form
To coin an example from this very word [sc. backformation], we might use the phrase, «such and such a word is back-formed from etc.»
1911, Vilhelm Bladin, “X. ‘Back-formed’ denominatives”, in Studies on Denominative Verbs in English: Inaugural Dissertation, quoted in OED, page 52
Origin
First attested in 1911 (adjective sense 1).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
back-formed. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back-formed
MLA
“back-formed.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back-formed. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “back-formed,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back-formed.
Source: back-formed on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.