Dictionary

backbiting en · NOUN · etymology 1

Etymology

From Middle English bakbitynge, bacbiting, bacbitung, equivalent to backbite + -ing.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge.
   • […]ending his epistle by saying, "that his uncle having doubtless lent his ear to some old woman's tales and backbiting, he did not choose to place his property in the hands of a spendthrift,[…] 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter V, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 49:
   • She was not given to backbiting—though, when stirred by any motive near to her own belongings, she would say an illnatured word or two. 1860 July – 1861 June (date written), Anthony Trollope, Orley Farm. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 138:

Forms

Translations (27)

tg ғайбат (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · it sussurrio (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · fi panettelu (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ru злосло́вие (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · it maldicenza (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · it diceria (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · bn গীবত (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · uk злосло́вення (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · tt гайбәт (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · tr gıybet (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ar غِيبَة (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ur غِیبَت (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ga cúlchaint (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · mg fifosana (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · fa غیبت (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ja 後指 (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · uk лихослі́в'я (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ba ғәйбәт (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · be зласло́ўе (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · it ciarla (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ru спле́тни (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · kk ғайбат (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · vi nói xấu sau lưng (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ga fodhord (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · az qeybət (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · fa دشتیاد (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge) · ja 陰口 (the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge)

backbiting en · ADJ · etymology 2

Etymology

From Middle English bakbytynge, equivalent to backbite + -ing.

Meanings

1. Slanderous or speaking badly, especially of a person without that person's knowledge.
   • Am I to have a backbiting wife? 1873, Rhoda Broughton, Nancy:
   • If the world’s premier A.I. start-up can so easily plunge into crisis over backbiting behavior and slippery ideas of wrongdoing, can it be trusted to advance a technology that may have untold effects on billions of people? 2023 December 9, Tripp Mickle, Cade Metz, Mike Isaac, Karen Weise, “Inside OpenAI’s Crisis Over the Future of Artificial Intelligence”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
   • Backbiting talk that flattering blabs know wily how to blenge. 1580, Thomas Tusser, A hundreth good pointes of husbandrie:

Forms

Deriveds

backbitingly

backbiting en · VERB · etymology 2

Etymology

From Middle English bakbytynge, equivalent to backbite + -ing.

Meanings

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present) present participle and gerund of backbite
   form of backbite