backhanded
/ˈbækˌhændəd/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.39 in modern English
23
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
adj
adj
adj
adj
Self-serving, corrupt, slipshod, or neglectful.
Example Sentences
- "The trader roars like an animal whose paw has been caught in a trap, but he hauls back his other arm and lands a backhanded blow to the side of her head that knocks her sideways onto the babushki bench."
- "Some casters can do a cross-body or backhanded cast quite effectively."
- "With your palm facing down, your wrist snaps forward. This is the same type of motion used for the backhanded change-up."
- "But modesty here is out of the question, and is often the most beggarly and back-handed friend that merit can have in its pay."
- "Don't mistake this for even a backhanded compliment; that at least takes a wry sense of imagination. This is a patronizing compliment, which is worse than no compliment at all."
- "He sometimes paid Descartes the backhanded compliment—backhanded because it detracted from the Frenchman's much-vaunted originality— of suggesting that his major achievement was to restore the study of Plato."