backstairs
Americanadjective
-
associated or originating with household servants.
Weak tea and burnt toast evidenced the start of a backstairs revolt.
-
secret, underhanded, or scandalous.
backstairs gossip.
plural noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of backstairs
First recorded in 1635–45; adjective use of back stairs
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Up the backstairs, buzzed in by a security guard, through the parking lot, into an elevator, through a hallway.
From New York Times • Jan. 4, 2022
Next to it was his study, where he wrote by the light of a single candle and received the “common” people through the backstairs, which he also used to come and go unnoticed.
From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2016
Standing silent in the sunlight, it served to place into a proper perspective a ramped-up spat on the Trent Bridge backstairs.
From The Guardian • Jul. 29, 2014
"And backstairs sniping, whichever side it comes from, shows that something is wrong and there's been too much of that backstairs sniping."
From BBC • Nov. 30, 2013
Momma and I followed that lane to the backstairs of Dentist Lincoln’s office.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
