adj, adv ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1. 1
   In a circular fashion so as to be moving to the left at the top of the circle and to the right at the bottom (when viewed from the front), in the opposite direction to the hands of an analog clock. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, not-comparable

Adjective

1. 1
   in the direction opposite to the rotation of the hands of a clock wordnet

Adverb

1. 1
   In an anticlockwise fashion. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, not-comparable

Adverb

1. 1
   in a direction opposite to the direction in which the hands of a clock move wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

counterclockwiseagainst the grainaroundass backwardsasternaway

Antonyms

All antonyms

deasilclockwisesunwise

Example

More examples

"You need to screw this bold anticlockwise."

Etymology

From anti- + clockwise.

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