as in double
not being or expressing what one appears to be or express
"I'm amazed you did so well" is a bit of a backhanded compliment
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Recent Examples of backhanded
The group also gave a backhanded boost to Bailey’s candidacy by funding TV ads that made Bailey simultaneously more attractive to conservative Republican primary voters and less attractive to the more moderate general Illinois electorate.
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Rick Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2024
However, there was much debate and confusion about what the OVO boss had to say, as some interpreted the flowers as a backhanded compliment or even dissing Chingy.
—Michael Saponara, Billboard, 19 Aug. 2024
Long-tarred with the backhanded label of ‘the most talented golfer never to win a major,’ the American shredded that tag with a vengeance, scooping both the PGA Championship and The Open Championship in a stunning two-month stretch.
—Don Riddell, CNN, 31 July 2024
Brandon Montour made a lazy pass at the blue line, Connor Brown jumped into the passing lane and took off to beat Sergei Bobrovsky on a backhanded breakaway.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 19 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for backhanded 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for backhanded
Adjective
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On Thursday, Maluma celebrated the release of the new single by driving a double decker bus around his hometown of Medellín, Colombia.Thania Garcia, Variety, 22 Nov. 2024
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The album marked the musician’s first since his half of Outkast’s 2003 Grammy-winning double LP, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 22 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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The source of those flames: a Christmas celebration that climaxes with ten helicopters dropping fake snow on the partygoers, a stunt that turns out to be a bad idea because of strong winds and some not-up-to-code fire extinguishers.Keith Phipps, Vulture, 17 Nov. 2024
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After 1935, duck and goose hunters were limited to fake decoys.Alice Jones Webb, Outdoor Life, 14 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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While lip reading is commonly used as a way for those with hearing disabilities to understand speech and conversations, it’s also called upon for legal matters and police investigations.Emily Holgate, refinery29.com, 19 Jan. 2024
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Also, lip skin is thinner, making blood vessels more apparent.Scott LaFee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Mar. 2024
Adjective
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The woman is long gone, so Freer has to imagine her consent — in a history so full of gaps, coercion, and disappearance, a pretended connection is better than none at all.Helen Shaw, Vulture, 28 Mar. 2022
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What most activates Dunn’s rage is the misogyny that only deepened amid all the pretended freedoms of the counterculture.Sam Sacks, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022
Adjective
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McKissic writes that evangelical leaders' acceptance of Trump despite his alleged immoral conduct is hypocritical, contrasting it with their past condemnation of former President Bill Clinton's indiscretions.David Faris, Newsweek, 3 Nov. 2024
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Some even pointed to an interview Yang recently conducted with the pop star for Interview magazine, claiming that his comments seemed hypocritical in hindsight given the nature of his SNL performance.Stephen Daw, Billboard, 30 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Others offered themselves as mediators in the sincere (or insincere) hope of minimizing the war’s direct and ancillary costs or even of ending it altogether.Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 7 Nov. 2024
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That’s not to say there’s no room for course-correction — Karen’s frenemy Gizelle Bryant suddenly learning how to apologize this season is a good example — but that a sudden personality transplant reads as insincere.Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Leighton Meester and Luke Cook star as sibling detectives who don’t always see eye-to-eye, working together to solve crimes – and the strained relationship with their police chief father (Clancy Brown).Denise Petski, Deadline, 20 Nov. 2024
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In the memoir, which came out on Nov. 19, White provided some insight about the strained relationship.Regina Cho, VIBE.com, 20 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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But simply moving roles under different titles is a superficial change that does more harm than good.Forrester, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
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If the first film expressed a fervent but surface-level appreciation for the outcast-character dramas of Martin Scorsese, this second one betrays not even a superficial adoration of the Hollywood musicals of old.A.A. Dowd, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Backhanded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/backhanded. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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