backbite

[ bak-bahyt ]

/ ˈbækˌbaɪt /

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See synonyms for: backbite / backbiting / backbiter on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), back·bit, back·bit·ten or (Informal) back·bit; back·bit·ing.

to attack the character or reputation of (a person who is not present).

verb (used without object), back·bit, back·bit·ten or (Informal) back·bit; back·bit·ing.

to speak unfavorably or slanderously of a person who is not present.

OTHER WORDS FOR backbite

1 belittle, disparage, deprecate; slander, libel, defame.

See synonyms for backbite on Thesaurus.com

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of backbite

Middle English word dating back to 1125–75; see origin at back¹, bite

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

Trouble seemed to arise not from big issues like race but from petty gossip and backbiting.
Tupac Shakur’s Race-Killer Prison Pal Talks|Michael Daly|July 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Never mind recent reports of backbiting and fingerpointing within the Perry camp.
Brownback: Rick Perry’s Just Like John McCain in 2008|Lloyd Grove|January 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The Koran warns against “backbiting,” and so does the Torah, which calls it “evil tongue.”
When Gossip Is Good, from Scandals to Relationships|Allison Yarrow|November 22, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Matt Latimer on the petty backbiting that has plagued his tenure from the start.
Michael Steele's GOP Enemies|Matt Latimer|December 12, 2010|DAILY BEAST

Of course, now that the reorganization is official, the speculation stops and the backbiting from disenchanted executives begins.
7 Winners, 9 Losers at the New NBC|Peter Lauria|November 17, 2010|DAILY BEAST
He hated any species of backbiting, and he had heard of Burleigh as an adept in the art, and a man to be feared.
Warrior Gap|Charles King
But I cannot bear that a slanderous backbiting tongue should make you think that I have seen no service.
Can You Forgive Her?|Anthony Trollope
To do so is to engage my daughter to sorrow, and hope deferred, and miserable backbiting!
Was It Right to Forgive?|Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
For those were happy times when backbiting among artists took the more manly form of poisoning.
An Artist's Letters From Japan|John La Farge
They were much given to gluttony and drinking; and there was an unthinkable amount of scandal and backbiting and jealousy.
Samuel the Seeker|Upton Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for backbite

backbite

/ (ˈbækˌbaɪt) /

verb -bites, -biting, -bit, -bitten or -bit

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

backbite

OTHER WORDS FOR backbite

Origin of backbite

OTHER WORDS FROM backbite

Words related to backbite

How to use backbite in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for backbite

Derived forms of backbite