backstairs

adjective

back·​stairs ˈbak-ˌsterz 

1

: secret, furtive

backstairs political deals

2

: sordid, scandalous

backstairs gossip

Did you know?

When Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, wrote in 1654 about leading someone "down a back-stairs," he wasn’t referring to anything scandalous. He simply meant "down a secondary set of stairs at the back of a house." Just over a decade earlier, however, Boyle’s contemporary, Sir Edward Dering, had used the phrase "going up the back-stairs" in a figurative way to suggest a means of approach that was not entirely honest and upfront. The figurative use likely arose from the simple notion that the stairs at the rear of a building are less visible and thus allow for a certain degree of sneakiness. By 1663, backstairs was also being used adjectivally to describe something done furtively, often with an underhanded or sinister connotation.

Synonyms

• behind-the-scenes
• clandestine
• covert
• furtive
• hole-and-corner
• hugger-mugger
• hush-hush
• private
• privy
• secret
• sneak
• sneaking
• sneaky
• stealth
• stealthy
• surreptitious
• undercover
• underground
• underhand
• underhanded

Examples of backstairs in a Sentence

an influential Washington lobbyist who has been involved in a number of backstairs deals to limit regulation of financial institutions

Recent Examples on the Web

And in North Carolina, a boyish trial lawyer with jury-pleasing charm (John Edwards) knocked off Lauch Faircloth, a GOP senator who played a backstairs role in getting Kenneth Starr appointed as independent counsel. —Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 6 June 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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