diff --git a/doc/api/cluster.md b/doc/api/cluster.md
index 1ed5e38670fb3c..92e4d42d60e3fd 100644
--- a/doc/api/cluster.md
+++ b/doc/api/cluster.md
@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ If the graceful disconnect behavior is not needed, use `worker.process.kill()`.
 
 Causes `.exitedAfterDisconnect` to be set.
 
-This method is aliased as `worker.destroy()` for backwards compatibility.
+This method is aliased as `worker.destroy()` for backward compatibility.
 
 In a worker, `process.kill()` exists, but it is not this function;
 it is [`kill()`][].
diff --git a/doc/api/crypto.md b/doc/api/crypto.md
index a13667b3af19f2..8bd2253908867f 100644
--- a/doc/api/crypto.md
+++ b/doc/api/crypto.md
@@ -1604,7 +1604,7 @@ The default encoding to use for functions that can take either strings
 or [buffers][`Buffer`]. The default value is `'buffer'`, which makes methods
 default to [`Buffer`][] objects.
 
-The `crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING` mechanism is provided for backwards compatibility
+The `crypto.DEFAULT_ENCODING` mechanism is provided for backward compatibility
 with legacy programs that expect `'latin1'` to be the default encoding.
 
 New applications should expect the default to be `'buffer'`.
diff --git a/doc/api/process.md b/doc/api/process.md
index 58ad0c5117a5b2..fa60731a0aa45a 100644
--- a/doc/api/process.md
+++ b/doc/api/process.md
@@ -2342,7 +2342,7 @@ important ways:
    * Pipes (and sockets): *synchronous* on Windows, *asynchronous* on POSIX
 
 These behaviors are partly for historical reasons, as changing them would
-create backwards incompatibility, but they are also expected by some users.
+create backward incompatibility, but they are also expected by some users.
 
 Synchronous writes avoid problems such as output written with `console.log()` or
 `console.error()` being unexpectedly interleaved, or not written at all if
diff --git a/doc/api/readline.md b/doc/api/readline.md
index af5e3147d41f4d..8d3eef1ab42aee 100644
--- a/doc/api/readline.md
+++ b/doc/api/readline.md
@@ -828,7 +828,7 @@ const { createInterface } = require('readline');
   <tr>
     <td><code>ctrl</code> + <code>w</code> or <code>ctrl</code>
     + <code>backspace</code></td>
-    <td>Delete backwards to a word boundary</td>
+    <td>Delete backward to a word boundary</td>
     <td><code>ctrl</code> + <code>backspace</code> Doesn't
     work on Linux, Mac and Windows</td>
   </tr>
diff --git a/doc/api/repl.md b/doc/api/repl.md
index 22136724aa989f..63879d26168d59 100644
--- a/doc/api/repl.md
+++ b/doc/api/repl.md
@@ -248,8 +248,8 @@ added:
 -->
 
 The REPL supports bi-directional reverse-i-search similar to [ZSH][]. It is
-triggered with `<ctrl> + R` to search backwards and `<ctrl> + S` to search
-forwards.
+triggered with `<ctrl> + R` to search backward and `<ctrl> + S` to search
+forward.
 
 Duplicated history entires will be skipped.
 
diff --git a/doc/guides/technical-values.md b/doc/guides/technical-values.md
index a688c0b21fe412..d79fde6a461021 100644
--- a/doc/guides/technical-values.md
+++ b/doc/guides/technical-values.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ with Node.js. Some key elements of this include:
 Whenever possible, we seek to ensure that working code continues to work. To
 keep the trust of developers and users, we value stability.
 Some key elements of this include:
-* Backwards compatibility
+* Backward compatibility
 * Stable releases on a predictable schedule
 * A strong safety net, including testing how changes
   in Node.js affect popular packages