BACKED Synonyms: 118 Similar and Opposite Words

backed

verb

past tense of back

as in endorsed

to promote the interests or cause of she enthusiastically backed the plan to renovate and upgrade the school's facilities

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in aided

to provide (someone) with what is useful or necessary to achieve an end a number of influential people have already agreed to back the candidate

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in reinforced

to provide evidence or information for (as a claim or idea) the author needs to back her thesis with more facts

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of backed Now, more than two decades after listing on the Jasdaq Securities Exchange in 2004, Kadoya is set to go private through a tender offer backed by Japanese private equity firm Integral. — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 5 Oct. 2026 Yemeni government forces – backed by Saudi airstrikes and a blockade of Houthi areas – started fighting the Houthis more than a decade ago. — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2026 The movie, backed by A24, has yet to open in most international territories. — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 4 Oct. 2026 Five for Fighting is on a novel national tour backed by a string quartet. — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 Oct. 2026 Hilton blamed Becerra’s tenure as HHS secretary, when the agency encouraged parents to mask and vaccinate their children against COVID-19, as counter-productive and not backed by scientific evidence. — Ben Paviour, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026 Every step forward proved the original read more correct, and investors eventually backed us for the same reason. — Piotr Tomasik, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026 When Pearl Jam backed Neil Young on the 1995 Mirror Ball tour, Young would spring songs on them 20 minutes before showtime. — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2026 Top labs like OpenAI and SpaceX have also backed calls from rival Anthropic to slow down development of frontier models as more alarm bells come from within their own ranks. — Jason Ma, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for backed

Verb

Moore has publicly endorsed the use of smelling salts by football players, singing their praises in a 2024 Wall Street Journal article about their popularity among UM players during the Jim Harbaugh era.

— Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Sponsored by Common Sense Media and endorsed by OpenAI, the bill is named after 16-year-old Adam Raine, whose parents sued OpenAI alleging ChatGPT encouraged his suicide.

— Ella Chakarian, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of endorsed

Verb

In perhaps the most likely outcome, humans will continue to be responsible for many discoveries, often aided by AI along the way.

— Jeffrey S. Flier, STAT, 5 Oct. 2026
The Horned Frogs were aided by BYU’s offensive line committing multiple penalties and having multiple low snaps to Bachmeier, but even without BYU’s mistakes, the Horned Frogs routinely disrupted BYU’s offensive rhythm.

— Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of aided

Verb

Each touchpoint reinforced the others, making Cedars-Sinai’s community investment more visible and accessible while building relationships beyond any single activation.

— Alvin Stafford, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Our positive thesis on the healthcare services and drug distributor was reinforced on Wednesday by analysts at Leerink after a meeting with the company’s CFO and investor relations team.

— Jeff Marks, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of reinforced

Verb

Anthropic has advocated for AI regulation, and Amodei last month called for a global slowdown in AI development to address the tech’s risks.

— Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2026
After environmentalists advocated for protecting these unique creatures, the nuclear-weapons manufacturing on their site was halted.

— Emily Watlington, ARTnews.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of advocated

Verb

She was assisted by corrections officers in exiting the witness room.

— JAMIE STENGLE, Arkansas Online, 8 Oct. 2026
During a virtual walk-through of the exhibition, Alexandra Foradas, the museum’s curator of modern and contemporary art who assisted Moore Saggese in realizing the show in New Jersey, provided a useful way of thinking about what Basquiat was doing.

— Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of assisted

Verb

Beyond France, risks loom large The latest ructions in markets could weigh on a fragile economic recovery in Europe, bolstered by investment into artificial intelligence, stronger demand for European exports and higher defense spending in Germany.

— Hanna Ziady, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
The firm unraveled in 2025 after prosecutors accused its founder and chief financial officer of concealing hundreds of millions of dollars in financial problems from lenders and investors, a case bolstered by the CFO’s guilty plea.

— Alex Volonte, The Conversation, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of bolstered

Verb

Since winning the nomination, el Sayed has warmed to Schumer, as having the backing of the centrist wing of the party, which supported Stevens in the primary, will be crucial in taking on Republican nominee Mike Rogers.

— Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 1 Oct. 2026
The original supply chain and much of the personnel expertise that supported the Blackbird have long since disappeared.

— Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of supported

Verb

Over in markets, declines in Treasury yields and gains in key technology names helped to push the S&P 500 to a fresh all-time intraday high on Tuesday.

— Justina Lee, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026
As Madison explains, picking her first post-Oscar gig definitely stressed her out, but her desire to grow her career and range (a la Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert) helped push her to take on the project.

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of helped

Browse Nearby Words

backdrops

backed

backed away

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“Backed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backed. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of backed

verb

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