backwards vs sidelong

backwards

adv
  • Synonym of backward; see usage notes there. 

adj
  • Synonym of backward; see usage notes there. 

sidelong

adv
  • Towards the side; sideways. 

  • obliquely 

adj
  • Slanting or sloping; oblique. 

  • Indirect; suggestive; not straightforward. 

  • Directed to the side; sideways. 

  • Along the side of something. 

How often have the words backwards and sidelong occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )