backtalk
UK/ˈbæk.tɔːk//ˈbæk.tɔk/
backtalk noun: verbal impudence or argumentative discourse, given in response.
Noun
backtalk (uncountable)
- Verbal impudence or argumentative discourse, given in response.
- Don't give me any backtalk; just go clean your room.
- He scratched his head. "Well, damn me," said he. "I never thought I would take orders from a Chink, but he says 'hist!' and by crums you've got to hist and no back talk either."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
Verb
backtalk (third-person singular simple present backtalks, present participle backtalking, simple past and past participle backtalked)
- To respond to in an aggressively disputatious, often sarcastic or insolent manner.
- Peter was sent to detention for backtalking the teacher.
Synonyms of backtalk
Forms of backtalk
| third-person singular present | backtalks |
|---|---|
| present participle | backtalking |
| past participle | backtalked |
| past | backtalked |
Origin of backtalk
From back + talk.
Words formed from backtalk
Questions about backtalk
- What does backtalk mean?
- Backtalk means verbal impudence or argumentative discourse, given in response.
- What part of speech is backtalk?
- Backtalk can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce backtalk?
- Backtalk is pronounced /ˈbæk.tɔːk/ (UK).
Words near backtalk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backtalk (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-NaomiAmethyst-backtalk.wav.
Cite this entry: “backtalk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backtalk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.