left-handed compliment

Cultural  

1. A compliment with two meanings, one of which is unflattering to the receiver: “The senator said that her opponent was quite competent for someone so inexperienced; you hear nothing but left-handed compliments in these debates.”

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left-handed compliment Idioms  

1. Also, backhanded compliment. An insult in the guise of an expression of praise. For example, She said she liked my hair, but it turned out to be a left-handed compliment when she asked how long I'd been dyeing it. This expression uses left-handed in the sense of “questionable or doubtful,” a usage dating from about 1600.

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Example Sentences

The quarterback showed his grit — decidedly not a left-handed compliment.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

It may be a left-handed compliment to say that “Berlin, I Love You” features no real duds even if some entries are disappointing.

From Salon • Feb. 8, 2019

Melissa, take all this as a left-handed compliment: You were too good for them, you and a slew of sharp, professional people that they also got rid of.

From New York Times • Feb. 26, 2016

The perfect fit on a couple of levels is Wilson, who grew up 12 miles from Angels Stadium and is the quality left-handed compliment to the three right-handers.

From Newsweek • Dec. 8, 2011

Ten years later, he cannot even thank Gibbon for his History without the left-handed compliment, that he should never have expected such an excellent work from the pen of an Englishman.

From Hume (English Men of Letters Series) by Huxley, Thomas Henry