counterclockwise

adverb

In the direction of rotation opposite from clockwise.

Opposite
Less commonScrabble 29

Meanings

adverbcounterclockwise (not comparable)

alternative counter-clockwise

  1. CanadaUSnot comparableIn the direction of rotation opposite from clockwise.

    The obliquities of the equators of (134340) Pluto and (134340) Pluto: I Charon to the orbit of their barycenter around the Sun are large enough that the poles they rotate about in a counterclockwise direction are on the south side of the invariable plane.

    2011, B. A. Archinal et al., “Erratum to: Reports of the IAU Working Group on Cartographic Coordinates and Rotational Elements: 2006 & 2009”, in Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy, volume 110, number 4, Springer, →ISSN, page 402
    1 more example

    The combination unit was traversing a straight section of roadway, on an approximate 4 percent upgrade, when the tractor began to jackknife. As the power unit rotated clockwise, it left the roadway to the right and traveled several feet before the driver corrected the jackknife. The unit was redirected toward the travel lanes, however, before it re-entered the roadway, it rotated counterclockwise, and the driver lost control.

    1988 October 12, National Transportation Safety Board, “CASE NO. 9”, in Safety Study: Case Summaries of 189 Heavy Truck Accident Investigations, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2017

    Synonyms: anticlockwise, contraclockwise, widdershins, withershins

adjectivecounterclockwise (not comparable)

alternative counter-clockwise

  1. CanadaUSnot comparableMoving or located in the direction of rotation opposite from clockwise.

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbIn the direction of rotation opposite from clockwise.

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivein the direction opposite to the rotation of the hands of a clock

Opposite

adverbin a direction opposite to the direction in which the hands of a clock move

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

counterclockwise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterclockwise

MLA

“counterclockwise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterclockwise. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “counterclockwise,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/counterclockwise.

Source: counterclockwise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.