See backhanded compliment in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
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"ref": "1914, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 17, in Tarzan of the Apes:",
"text": "\"[…] regardless of what he may say to you, he respects your great learning, and, therefore, has immense confidence in your judgment. The poor dear cannot differentiate between erudition and wisdom.\" Mr. Philander, with a mildly puzzled expression on his face, turned to pursue Professor Porter, and in his mind he was revolving the question of whether he should feel complimented or aggrieved at Miss Porter's rather back-handed compliment.",
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"ref": "1998 June 29, Jere Longman, “World Cup '98: Dutch Fans Are Orange (Hair, Dresses, Clogs and Faces) With Envy”, in New York Times, retrieved 2013-10-07:",
"text": "Perhaps, finally, the Netherlands will shed itself of the backhanded compliment of being the best team never to win a world championship.",
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"ref": "2009 February 4, Robert Chew, “A Madoff Whistle-Blower Tells His Story”, in Time, retrieved 2013-10-07:",
"text": "In a backhanded compliment, Markopolos said the SEC is a \"bad regulator, but the best of a very sorry lot.\"",
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"(idiomatic) An insult disguised as a compliment; a compliment which can be interpreted as an insult."
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"word": "asteism"
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"word": "dubious compliment"
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"word": "left-handed compliment"
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"word": "poisonous compliment"
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"word": "back-handed compliment"
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"code": "de",
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"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
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"word": "vergiftetes Kompliment"
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"code": "de",
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"word": "zweifelhaftes Kompliment"
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"code": "de",
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"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"tags": [
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"word": "zweideutiges Kompliment"
},
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"roman": "homegoroshi",
"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"word": "褒め殺し"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"word": "dwuznaczny komplement"
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"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"word": "crítica velada"
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"word": "dubious compliment"
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"word": "left-handed compliment"
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"word": "poisonous compliment"
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"word": "poisoned compliment"
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"word": "back-handed compliment"
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"code": "de",
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"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
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"word": "vergiftetes Kompliment"
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{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"tags": [
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"word": "zweifelhaftes Kompliment"
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{
"code": "de",
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"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"tags": [
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"word": "zweideutiges Kompliment"
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{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "homegoroshi",
"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"word": "褒め殺し"
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{
"code": "pl",
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"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"word": "dwuznaczny komplement"
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"code": "es",
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"sense": "insult disguised as a compliment",
"word": "crítica velada"
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"word": "backhanded compliment"
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Download raw JSONL data for backhanded compliment meaning in English (3.8kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (94ba7e1 and 5dea2a6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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