backhanded

English

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backhanded

/ˈbækˌhændəd/

Where it comes from

From back + hand + -ed.

adjective more backhanded · most backhanded · back-handed

With the back of the hand. The trader roars like an animal whose paw has been caught in a trap, but he hauls back his other arm and lands a backhanded blow to the side of her head that knocks her sideways onto the babushki bench.
Involving a backward flip of the hand. Some casters can do a cross-body or backhanded cast quite effectively.
Insincere, sarcastic, ironic, or self-contradictory. But modesty here is out of the question, and is often the most beggarly and back-handed friend that merit can have in its pay.
Indirect. Only in grade 5 is he mentioned and in this backhanded way: "George Darwin, son of the famous English scientist, Charles Darwin." . . . But for what is Charles Darwin famous? You won't find it in the California elementary science textbooks.
Backwards, turned around. No one ever believed that Leif meant any harm, but all the luck he brought was backhanded.
of writing inclining to the left In this particular instance the writing begins backhanded, and there is a reversion to the right-handed type, -- an unconscious reversion, which makes me think that is the natural method of writing;
Retrospective, occurring after the fact rather than in advance. ...but that is really a backhanded rent, because I have sold all the produce of my farm six months before I am called upon to pay the last six months' rent.
Self-serving, corrupt, slipshod, or neglectful. Perhaps omitting Weber from footnotes is intended to avenge his backhanded treatment of the American Puritans (and by extension their academic champions), whom he virtually ignored—albeit with unhappy consequences for his own work.

verb

participle, past simple past and past participle of backhand

adverb more backhanded · most backhanded

In a backhanded manner. As the man crumpled forward, Snow took a further step with his right foot and brought the pole down backhanded with all his power into the right side of the man's head.

Translations

Every language

adj Of writing

Français	penché à gauche

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MLA

"backhanded." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/backhanded. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

backhanded. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/backhanded

Chicago

"backhanded." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/backhanded.

BibTeX

@misc{backhanded_2026,
  title = {backhanded},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/backhanded},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}