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

A parcel of old women who delight in having some one to run down and backbite.

From The Claverings by Trollope, Anthony

We have known others to join with their servants to backbite the best and noblest friends for trifling derelictions against the accustomed order of the house.

From Woman in the Ninteenth Century and Kindred Papers Relating to the Sphere, Condition and Duties, of Woman. by Fuller, Margaret

As Brandes wittily observes: "People who talk like that do not torture their enemy to death; they backbite him."

From Essays on Scandinavian Literature by Boyesen, Hjalmar Hjorth