Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A false or pretended friend; a secret enemy.
- noun A friend at one's back; a backer.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun obsolete A secret enemy.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
false friend ; asecret enemy . - noun A friend at one's back; a
backer ; one who does his best for another; asupporter . - noun A
hangnail .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From back- + friend.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word backfriend.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
minerva commented on the word backfriend
Dr. Johnson's dictionary: from back and friend. A friend back-wards; that is, an enemy in secret. Dr. Johnson's dictionary blog
From OED: A pretended or false friend; an enemy who pretends friendship; a secret or unavowed enemy.
January 17, 2009
sionnach commented on the word backfriend
So, what we would call a frenemy?
January 17, 2009