0 A backhanded remark seems pleasant but may really be a criticism or mean something unkind:
a backhanded compliment
1 (of something said) not clear and usually meaning the opposite of what it seems to mean:
Her backhanded compliments annoyed everyone.
I took that as being a somewhat backhanded compliment.
It is typical that an important subject such as this should so often be the product of so much backhanded scheming.
That is a kind of backhanded tribute to the work that we have tried to perform.
There is another point that can be of some assistance—although in a rather backhanded way.
We felt that to be a somewhat backhanded compliment, but at least it was not an office of profit.
In a way, that is a backhanded compliment to the council's work to make the heart of our city a more attractive place to visit.
He gives a nice little hand-out to certain people and then gives them a sort of backhanded smack over the tax allowance on cars.
I do not think it is so much criticism, as in the nature of a backhanded compliment.
