Backbiting
adj, noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge. countable, uncountable
"[…]ending his epistle by saying, "that his uncle having doubtless lent his ear to some old woman's tales and backbiting, he did not choose to place his property in the hands of a spendthrift,[…]"
- 1 present participle and gerund of backbite form-of, gerund, participle, present
- 1 Slanderous or speaking badly, especially of a person without that person's knowledge.
"Backbiting talk that flattering blabs know wily how to blenge."
Example
More examples"The president-elect's cabinet selection process appeared in disarray, even as his fawning acolytes disputed multiple news reports of backbiting, vendettas, infighting and persistent, bitter acrimony. With the constantly ongoing palace intrigue, it was difficult to know for certain who was in charge."
Etymology
From Middle English bakbitynge, bacbiting, bacbitung, equivalent to backbite + -ing.
From Middle English bakbytynge, equivalent to backbite + -ing.
More for "backbiting"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.