backbiting
backbiting noun: the action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge. Also the present participle and gerund of backbite.
Noun
backbiting (countable and uncountable, plural backbitings)
- 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
Adjective
backbiting (comparative more backbiting, superlative most backbiting)
- Slanderous or speaking badly, especially of a person without that person's knowledge.
- Backbiting talk that flattering blabs know wily how to blenge.1580, Thomas Tusser, A hundreth good pointes of husbandrie
- Am I to have a backbiting wife?1873, Rhoda Broughton, Nancy
Also used as
backbiting is also the present participle and gerund of backbite.
backbiting meaning in Urdu, Bengali, Arabic and Persian
backbiting in Urdu
- the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge
- غِیبَت ġībat
backbiting in Bengali
- the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge
- গীবত gibot
backbiting in Arabic
- the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge
- غِيبَة ḡība
backbiting in Persian
- the act of slandering a person without that person's knowledge
- دشتیاد doštyâd, غیبت ġeybet
More languagesFewer languages
- backbiting in Vietnamese
- nói xấu sau lưng
Forms of backbiting
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | backbitings |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more backbiting |
| superlative | most backbiting |
Origin of backbiting
From Middle English bakbitynge, bacbiting, bacbitung, equivalent to backbite + -ing.
From Middle English bakbytynge, equivalent to backbite + -ing.
Words formed from backbiting
Questions about backbiting
- What does backbiting mean?
- Backbiting means the action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge.
- What is backbiting in Urdu?
- Backbiting in Urdu is غِیبَت (ġībat). See Backbiting meaning in Urdu.
- What part of speech is backbiting?
- Backbiting can be a noun or an adjective.
- What is the plural of backbiting?
- The plural of backbiting is backbitings.
Words near backbiting in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backbiting (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “backbiting.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backbiting. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.