backbiting

A woman overhears two colleagues engaged in backbiting in the office hallway.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • Malicious gossip about someone not present: "backbiting" refers to the act of speaking spitefully or slanderously about an absent person, typically with the intent to damage their reputation or cause harm.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Office politics often involves a lot of backbiting among colleagues. (Malicious gossip about coworkers who are not present.)
  • She was hurt by the constant backbiting behind her back. (Spiteful remarks made about her when she was absent.)

Advanced Usage

• "to engage in backbiting": to participate in or practice malicious gossip about an absent person.
  • The committee meeting was ruined by members engaging in backbiting rather than constructive discussion. (Members spoke ill of others not present.)

Variants and Related Words

• Backbiter (noun): a person who habitually engages in backbiting.
  • He is known as a backbiter in the community. (Someone who speaks maliciously about others behind their backs.)
• Backbiting (adjective): describing an action or remark that involves malicious gossip about an absent person.
  • Her backbiting comments caused a rift in the friendship. (Her spiteful remarks about someone not present.)

Synonyms

• Slander: the act of making false spoken statements that damage someone's reputation.
• Defamation: the action of damaging the good reputation of someone through false statements (often used in legal contexts).
• Calumny: the making of false and defamatory statements to damage someone's reputation.
• Gossip: casual or unconstrained conversation about others, often involving details that are not confirmed as true.

Related Idioms

• "to bite someone's head off": to speak to someone angrily or critically (not directly synonymous, but related to verbal aggression).
  • Don't bite my head off; I was just asking a question. (Don't speak to me so harshly.)

Phrasal Verbs (related to the concept)

• Talk behind someone's back: to speak about someone in their absence, typically in a negative or critical way.
  • She felt betrayed when she learned they were talking behind her back. (They were backbiting about her when she was not present.)