back-handed compliment
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He was among the best without a major, the back-handed compliment that acknowledges the talent and questions the heart.
From Seattle Times • May 20, 2024
In a sort of back-handed compliment to its lead, several lamented the venture as a criminal waste of talent.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2020
Villanova coach Jay Wright has called DiVincenzo “the Michael Jordan of Delaware,” which sounds like a back-handed compliment until you see the dude play.
From Slate • Apr. 3, 2018
Those concerns were only deepened in August, when Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a back-handed compliment to Nazarbayev, who took charge in Kazakhstan in the late 1980s.
From US News • Apr. 24, 2015
As to Philippus's back-handed compliment to the showman, it reminds one of Peter Quince's commendation of Bottom: "Yea and the best person too; and he is a very paramour for a sweet voice."
From The Symposium by Dakyns, Henry Graham
