Meaning & use
backhand compliment
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
a remark that seems to praise someone but actually criticizes or insults them
Grammar: Countable: you can pay someone a backhand compliment or make several backhand compliments.
Patterns
- pay someone a backhand compliment
- a backhand compliment about something
She paid him a backhand compliment, saying he was surprisingly good at speaking for someone with no training.
Calling the meal 'not bad for a beginner' was a backhand compliment.
He meant it as praise, but it came out as a backhand compliment.
Word forms
| plural | backhand compliments |
|---|
Common combinations
- pay someone a backhand compliment
- He paid her a backhand compliment about her 'brave' choice of dress.
- a classic backhand compliment
- 'You look great for your age' is a classic backhand compliment.
- take something as a backhand compliment
- She took his comment as a backhand compliment and smiled anyway.
Synonyms and how they differ
- left-handed compliment
- A common variant with the same meaning; it is more frequent in American English.
- insult
- An insult is openly rude, while a backhand compliment hides the criticism inside praise.
Opposites
Word family
- backhanded adjective
- Describing a remark that is indirectly critical, as in a backhanded compliment.
Commonly confused: backhand compliment or compliment? backhand compliment or complement?
backhand compliment vs compliment
A compliment is sincere praise; a backhand compliment only appears to be praise.
backhand compliment vs complement
Complement means something that completes or goes well with something else, and is spelled with an e.
Practice
Which sentence contains a backhand compliment?
Choose one answer.
The phrase 'for someone who never studied math' adds a hidden criticism, making it a backhand compliment. The other options are sincere praise with no critical edge.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “backhand compliment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.