backbite

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.

Characters backbite, bellyache, reluctantly pitch in and commit mundane acts of heroism in a largely believable manner, and there’s blessedly little inspirational speechmaking.

From New York Times • Sep. 11, 2022

Diana could spin one delicious backbite like that into a column.

From Time Magazine Archive

Yea, rather than thou wilt go without it, thou wilt dissemble, lie, backbite thy neighbour, and an hundred other tricks thou wilt have.

From Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 by Bunyan, John

But not to quarrel; not to haggle, and backbite and scold!

From Rimrock Jones by Coolidge, Dane

To backbite is to speak something secretly to one's injury; to calumniate is to invent as well as utter the injurious charge.

From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin