backfriend
English · Thesaurus
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backfriend
- /ˈbækˌfɹɛnd/ US, UK
Where it comes from
From back (adverb or noun) + friend. Sense 3 (“person who pretends to be someone’s friend”) may allude to a person who stays back instead of coming forward to help, and so is not a true friend.
noun backfriends · back-friend
- A friend who supports someone; a person who has someone's back; a backer, a supporter. They had vvings of goodvvill to fly vvith, but no vvebbes on their feete to ſvvimme vvith, for except the vvaterfoules had mercie vpon them, and ſtood their faithfull confederates and backe-friends, on their backes to tranſport them, they might returne home like good fooles, and gather ſtravves to b
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Synonym of hangnail (“a loose, narrow strip of nail tissue protruding from the side edge and anchored near the base of a fingernail or toenail”).
[…] Corrie bit another atom from off the corner of his nail. He had a troublesome "back-friend" or "agnail," at which he often bit.
Similar: hangnail
- A person who pretends to be someone's friend; a false friend, a secret enemy. A Feind, a Fairie, pittileſſe and ruffe: / A VVolfe, nay vvorſe, a fellovv all in buffe: / A back friend, a ſhoulder-clapper, one that countermãds / The paſſages of allies, creekes, and narrovv lands: […]
Talk about this word "backfriend." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/backfriend. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. backfriend. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/backfriend "backfriend." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/backfriend.Cite this
@misc{backfriend_2026,
title = {backfriend},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/backfriend},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
