From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbackward-lookingˌbackward-ˈlooking adjective using the methods and ideas of the past rather than modern ones – used to show disapproval OPP forward-looking Darwin transformed a backward-looking organisation into a respected art school.
Examples from the Corpus
backward-looking• In 1890 all foreign ministries had been, to varying extents, tradition-bound and backward-looking.• The whole scene represented by these extensive remains is determinedly backward-looking and insular.• Some of its politicians were backward-looking in that their major objectives were to remedy inter-war problems.• Even if Maastricht is ratified intact, the past four months have made it seem backward-looking, or even irrelevant.• The titles of many of the talks seem curiously backward-looking, particularly compared with the straight forward approach of the Berlin programme.• This gives intentional explanations a forward-looking quality which contrasts with the backward-looking quality of empirical explanations.• But this is backward-looking stuff from another era.• The later Victorian undertakers were arguably the most backward-looking tradesmen of their day. 