backstairs

Or back·stair

[bak-stairz]

adjective

1. associated or originating with household servants.

   Weak tea and burnt toast evidenced the start of a backstairs revolt.

2. secret, underhanded, or scandalous.

   backstairs gossip.

backstairs

/ ˈbækˈstɛəz /

plural noun

1. a secondary staircase in a house, esp one originally for the use of servants

adjective

1. underhand

   backstairs gossip

Word History and Origins

Origin of backstairs¹

First recorded in 1635–45; adjective use of back stairs

Example Sentences

Up the backstairs, buzzed in by a security guard, through the parking lot, into an elevator, through a hallway.

Read more on New York Times

But long before Putin’s backstairs embrace of Trump’s candidacy, Syria had illustrated the limitations of a president who always tiptoed through the tulips.

Read more on The Guardian

Instead, his columns were narratives of creation, abandonment and restoration that lovingly highlighted quirky design and backstairs gossip from decades past.

Read more on New York Times

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.

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In the mid-1800s, members of the Wood family and their guests used the grander front staircase, and the backstairs were used by servants responsible for many of the household tasks.

Read more on Washington Times

Related Words

• classified 
• confidential 
• covert 
• furtive 
• hush-hush 
• restricted 
• secretive 
• surreptitious