backbiteverb [ I or T ]
/ˈbæk.baɪt//ˈbæk.baɪt/to say unpleasant and unkind things about someone who is not there:
I'm not short-tempered, but I do get annoyed if friends backbite me.
More examples
- He has been often blamed for this and people backbit him more than ever after his death.
- Our enemies love to revile and backbite us.
- The public seem surprised that members of such an apparently genteel profession as classical music should stoop so low as to backbite.
- If we all pull together, then we can be a successful force in world rugby again. If we bicker and backbite, then we will divide even further, and fall.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Unkind, cruel & unfeeling
- acerbic
- acidly
- backbiting
- backhanded
- barbaric
- barbarism
- bilious
- cutthroat
- fiendish
- hard-hearted
- have a heart of stone idiom
- have a sharp tongue idiom
- insensible
- malign
- remorseless
- ruthless
- sadism
- sadist
- savagery
- waspish
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Remarks & remarking
Disapproving & criticizing