as in slander
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Recent Examples of backbiting
Andy Burnham, Britain’s soon-to-be prime minister, wants an array of bold new policies to attract voters who have grown tired of a Labour government mired in indecision and political backbiting.
—
Philip Aldrick,
Fortune,
28 June 2026
There’s also a fair amount of political mudslinging and backbiting.
—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 June 2026
Sadly, Sister Wives has really become an experience of criticism and backbiting.
—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
28 Sep. 2025
The industry functions on a delicate infrastructure of intimidation, backbiting, and the occasional contract amid endless favors, yanking Aasmaan through its machinations like a rag doll in the wind.
—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
19 Sep. 2025
The Girlfriend does not pretend all of this plotting and backbiting isn’t soapy nonsense.
—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Sep. 2025
The depictions of the New York literati scene, with its backbiting and wary camaraderie, are effective but all too brief.
—
Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
3 Apr. 2025
Philip Aldrick,
Fortune,
28 June 2026
There’s also a fair amount of political mudslinging and backbiting.
—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 June 2026
Sadly, Sister Wives has really become an experience of criticism and backbiting.
—
Liza Esquibias,
PEOPLE,
28 Sep. 2025
The industry functions on a delicate infrastructure of intimidation, backbiting, and the occasional contract amid endless favors, yanking Aasmaan through its machinations like a rag doll in the wind.
—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
19 Sep. 2025
The Girlfriend does not pretend all of this plotting and backbiting isn’t soapy nonsense.
—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Sep. 2025
The depictions of the New York literati scene, with its backbiting and wary camaraderie, are effective but all too brief.
—
Peter Rainer,
Christian Science Monitor,
3 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backbiting
Noun
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The French influencer Eros Brousson strikes again – this time with Waffle House slander.
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The slander towards the course throughout the week was aplenty, and warranted.
Noun
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Pratt was just another angry New Yorker hectoring calumnies against all forms of authority.
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The declaration also highlights the need to report facts, not suppress or falsify information, and avoid discrimination, bribery, and calumny.
Noun
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That case requires a public official claiming defamation to prove the defendant knew their statement was false at the time or demonstrated reckless disregard of its falsity, a standard known as actual malice.
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Carroll sued Trump shortly thereafter, accusing him of defamation.
Noun
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Baldoni, who denied the allegations, filed a gargantuan defamation suit for $400 million against Lively and her camp, as well as a $250 million libel suit against The New York Times’ coverage of the claims.
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Sabellico sued him for libel, arguing those comments were malicious and defamatory.
Noun
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As vilification of the Founders and the Revolution became more common, both in academia and in society at large, Wood functioned as part elder statesman and part lightning rod.
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After defeating Chwalinska in straight sets, Andreeva took time at the end of her acceptance speech to speak Russian, seemingly in defiance of the vilification due to her ethnic heritage by the tennis governing bodies and opposing players.
Noun
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Asserting claims for tortious interference, civil conspiracy, commercial disparagement and violations of Illinois consumer fraud laws, the Butlers sought more than $50 million in compensatory damages and over $200 million in punitive damages.
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These disparagements cut to the core of southern manhood.
Noun
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Amid aspersions and attack ads, the pair nearly came to blows at a community debate.
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Not Calvin Klein casting gay aspersions!
Noun
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For me, this marks an early moment in the denigration of women.
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Nowhere is there the vitriol or denigration found in MAGA gatherings.
Cite this Entry
“Backbiting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backbiting. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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