# backbiting

> English word · Noun · frequency rank #95,720

## Definitions
1. The action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge.

## Etymology
From Middle English bakbitynge, bacbiting, bacbitung, equivalent to backbite + -ing.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/backbiting