backstab

American  

[bak-stab] / ˈbækˌstæb /

verb (used with object)

backstabbed, backstabbing

1. to attempt to discredit (a person) by underhanded means, as innuendo, accusation, or the like.

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Other Word Forms

• backstabber noun

Etymology

Origin of backstab

First recorded in 1920–25; back ² + stab

Example Sentences

"In our minds nothing is bigger than Liverpool, that's how it is here. It feels like a betrayal, a backstab, like everything that was said before wasn't really true, or at least not as true as was portrayed."

From BBC

Yet at every turn, Deborah finds some excuse to backstab Ava, allegedly out of some version of respect, and Ava retaliates by sabotaging herself and her boss.

From Salon

In the eight episodes, which exist as a standalone story separate from the film and are now streaming, Eddie and Susie first collaborate, then backstab each other and eventually realize they are better as a team.

From Los Angeles Times

"You don't know who to trust, and when you do trust someone they backstab you," he says.

From BBC

In addition to “Peerless,” there are Sophie McIntosh’s “Macbitches,” about a group of college students who backstab one another in order to get the lead role in a school play, and “Mac Beth,” by Erica Schmidt, who condensed the text to 90 minutes and set her work in an all-girls high school.

From New York Times