backbite
to attack the character or reputation of (a person who is not present).
to speak unfavorably or slanderously of a person who is not present.
Origin of backbite
1Other words for backbite
Other words from backbite
- backbiter, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use backbite in a sentence
The widow was no gossip, no backbiter, but a woman of opinions and a nimble tongue undeterred by fear or favor.
Sudden Jim | Clarence Budington KellandI know thee for a liar, a deceiver, a backbiter, and a spirit of insatiable malevolence.
The Three Perils of Man, Vol. 3 (of 3) | James HoggThe flatterer, the backbiter, the spy,—these find here a rich soil.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist | Alexander BerkmanWould the slanderer, or backbiter, or hypocrite, indulge their habits if they realized this truth?
The Wesleyan Methodist Pulpit in Malvern | Knowles KingHere is something to confute the old backbiter,' and he clapped with his thick short hand a heavy leather pocket-book.
The Immortal | Alphonse Daudet
British Dictionary definitions for backbite
/ (ˈbækˌbaɪt) /
to talk spitefully about (an absent person)
Derived forms of backbite
- backbiter, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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