backbite
The English word “backbite” has 4 meanings listed here.
verb
- To make spiteful slanderous or defamatory statements about someone.
- To attack from behind or when out of earshot with spiteful or defamatory remarks.
- To speak badly of an absent individual.
noun
- One who engages in backbiting; a backbiter.
Etymology
From Middle English bakbiten, bacbiten, equivalent to back- + bite. Cognate with Icelandic bakbíta (“to backbite, vilify”).
Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “backbite” there
More English words
About this dictionary
The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.
Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.