Dictionary

left-handed compliment en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) A complimentary remark which is ambiguous or ineptly worded, so that it may be interpreted as having an unflattering or dismissive sense.
   • "We have sat through the whole of dinner and not once mentioned politics." "You made us forget them," Tallente murmured. "A left-handed compliment," Jane laughed. 1921, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 16, in Nobody's Man:
   • In a somewhat left-handed compliment, UN Secretary-General U Thant described Russia's new bosses as "competent and unpretentious." 1964 October 30, “The Morning After”, in Time, retrieved 07 Oct 2013:
   • [C]alling someone a "neglected master" makes for one hell of a left-handed compliment. 2006 March 19, David Orr, “On Poetry: Samuel Menashe—New and Selected Poems”, in New York Times, retrieved 07 Oct 2013:

Forms

Relateds

damn with faint praise

Synonyms

backhanded compliment