backslider
/ˈbækslaɪdɚ/noun
backslider is spelled B-A-C-K-S-L-I-D-E-R: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, backslider means “A recidivist; one who backslides, especially in a religious sense; an apostate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of backslider is backsliders.
How many letters and syllables are in backslider?
| Letters | 10: B-A-C-K-S-L-I-D-E-R |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 46 million words; the 209,386th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is backslider?
Backslider appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce backslider?
- UK /ˈbakslaɪdə/
- US /ˈbækslaɪdɚ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-backslider.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of backslider
- backsliders plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does backslider mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A recidivist; one who backslides, especially in a religious sense; an apostate.
She married him thinking to change his ways, and for a while he got religion, but he was ever a backslider; she soon began finding bottles stashed about the house.
- 2
IrelandOne who will not do his work or shoulder his responsibilities.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does backslider come from?
From backslide + -er.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).