noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Verbal impudence or argumentative discourse, given in response. uncountable

   "Don't give me any backtalk; just go clean your room."

2. 2
   an impudent or insolent rejoinder wordnet

Verb

1. 1
   To respond to in an aggressively disputatious, often sarcastic or insolent manner. transitive

   "Peter was sent to detention for backtalking the teacher."

Synonyms

All synonyms

lipsassback talkbackchatbackchatbackchat

Example

More examples

"I don't want to hear any backtalk."

Etymology

From back + talk.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.