backstairs
English · Thesaurus
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backstairs
Where it comes from
From back + stairs.
noun back-stairs
- A staircase at the rear of a building or one normally only used by servants and tradesmen. Here I diſcovered the ſecret Cauſes of many great Events that have ſurprized the World, how a Whore can govern the Back-ſtairs, the Back-ſtairs a Council, and the Council a Senate.
- An indirect or furtive means of access or intercourse. The straight-forward course, they say, would be to proclaim outright, instead of trying to bring it in by the backstairs.
adjective more backstairs · most backstairs · back-stairs
- Secret or furtive. […] if some peers (I am very sorry they are not as many as they ought to be) set themselves, in the great concern of peers and commons, against a back-stairs influence and clandestine government, then the alarm begins; then the constitution is in danger of being forced into an aristocracy.
- Scandalous.
Similar: backstair
Thesaurus
adjective
Similar: backstair
Talk about this word "backstairs." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/backstairs. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. backstairs. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/backstairs "backstairs." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/backstairs.Cite this
@misc{backstairs_2026,
title = {backstairs},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/backstairs},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
