Abaft

//əˈbɑːft// adv, prep

adv, prep ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    On the aft side; in the stern.

    "We drifted with the wind abaft."

  2. 2
    Backwards. obsolete
Adverb
  1. 1
    at or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane wordnet
Preposition
  1. 1
    Behind; toward the stern relative to some other object or position; aft of.

    "The captain stood abaft the wheelhouse."

Synonyms

All synonyms
abaft ofaftaftafterasternbehind

Example

More examples

"The lifeboats were located abaft the ship, near the stern."

Etymology

From Middle English obaft, baft, baften, from Old English beæftan; be (“by”) (modern English by) + æftan (“behind”) (modern English after). See also aft.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.