one step forward, two steps back
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To make less progress than expected, despite efforts to move forward.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Tiến bộ ít hơn dự kiến, mặc dù cố gắng tiến lên
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: physical movement
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The team took one step forward with their new strategy, but took two steps back when their key player was injured.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “one step forward, two steps back” mean?
To make less progress than expected, despite efforts to move forward. Literally: physical movement
Is “one step forward, two steps back” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.