backbiting

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The action of slandering a person without that person's knowledge.

   “[…]ending his epistle by saying, "that his uncle having doubtless lent his ear to some old woman's tales and backbiting, he did not choose to place his property in the hands of a spendthrift,[…]”

   “She was not given to backbiting—though, when stirred by any motive near to her own belongings, she would say an illnatured word or two.”

adj

1. Slanderous or speaking badly, especially of a person without that person's knowledge.

   “Backbiting talk that flattering blabs know wily how to blenge.”

   “Am I to have a backbiting wife?”

   “If the world’s premier A.I. start-up can so easily plunge into crisis over backbiting behavior and slippery ideas of wrongdoing, can it be trusted to advance a technology that may have untold effects on billions of people?”

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of backbite