English · Idiom Candidate

one step forward, two steps back

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

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.

👁 Views 0 today 0 past 7 days 0 this month 0 all time